Minister for National Food Security and Research inaugurates Upgraded Central Seed Testing Lab

Islamabad, September 06, 2013 (PPI-OT): Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research inaugurated here the renovated and upgraded Central Seed Testing Lab (CSTL) at Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC and RD) Headquarters. Currently FSC and RD, in collaboration with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), is in a process for accreditation of its Central Seed Testing Lab.

Speaking on the occasion, the federal minister stated that the accreditation of the Lab will raise its standard and its seed testing reports/results will also be acceptable at international level. Mr. Sikandar also said that there is lot of complaints about the sale of sub-standard seed in the market which was affecting the yield of the farmers. The minister directed the officials of the department to accelerate see quality monitoring and ensure that only quality seed is available in the market.

“Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and there is an urgent need to modernize our national agriculture infrastructure to reap the maximum benefits”, emphasized the minister.

Mr. Bosan further stated that private seed sector will be more liberalized and empowered to do seed business through production of basic seed of various crops after the passage of Seed Act Amendment Bill 2010. The federal minister also encouraged public and private sectors to come forward and join hand with the efforts of FSC and RD for the production of quality seed and its prompt availability to the farming community.

Later, in a meeting with representatives of Seed Association of Pakistan (SAP), federal minister asked the participants to come forward with tangible proposals for further development of seed sector in the country.

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