Previous Year Question
Which one of the following best describes the main objective of the ‘Seed Village Concept’?
Encouraging farmers to use their own farm seeds and discouraging them from buying seeds from others
Involving and training farmers in quality-seed production and thereby making quality seeds available to others at the appropriate time and at an affordable cost
Earmarking certain villages exclusively for the production of certified seeds
Identifying entrepreneurs in villages and providing them with technology and finance to establish seed companies
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
The Seed Village Concept seeks to increase the local availability of quality seeds by training and involving farmers of a village or cluster in quality-seed production.
Under this concept, trained farmers of a village or adjoining group of villages produce seeds of a particular crop and variety. The resulting seeds are used by the producers and supplied to neighbouring farmers at the appropriate time and at an affordable cost.
Its major objectives include:
Increasing local production of quality seeds.
Training farmers in seed production, isolation distance, roguing, harvesting, processing and storage.
Ensuring the timely availability of seeds during the sowing season.
Increasing the Seed Replacement Rate.
Promoting suitable high-yielding varieties in place of local and low-productivity varieties.
Reducing transport costs and supply delays associated with bringing seeds from distant locations.
Making a village or cluster self-reliant in meeting its seed requirements.
Option (a) is incorrect because merely encouraging farm-saved seeds is not its objective; the emphasis is on scientific production of quality seeds.
Option (c) is incorrect because a Seed Village is not a village reserved exclusively for certified-seed production. Farmer participation, training and local distribution are integral to the concept.
Option (d) is incorrect because establishing private seed companies is not its principal objective.
Current status (2026)
The Seed Village Concept has not been discontinued. Activities relating to decentralised production and distribution of quality seeds continue under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare’s Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP) and related seed-production frameworks.
The present system emphasises Seed Villages along with certified-seed production, seed processing, seed storage, seed testing, seed minikits and farmer training. Thus, the original concept remains relevant, although it is implemented within a broader Seeds and Planting Material programme.