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The Mystery of Elite Seeds
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/economy26330.html
Published: 12:20:15 - 26/05/2012
Thousands of farmers of Armavir region are facing starvation. They
believed minister Sergo Karapetyan's legends about elite seeds of
wheat and decided to use the RA government program of development of
seed farming and seed production for 2010-2014.
First let us clarify what is elite seed.
The seeds must have a certificate of compliance, cannot have an
analogue, must be adjusted to all the climate zones of the country
where they will be used, must be resistant to draught, productivity
must exceed its former analogues 1.5-2 times.
The farmers trusted government's pledges and received 200-250 kg of
seeds per hectare. 286 tons of elite seeds were provided to the region
of Armavir. According to the government program, the seeds are
disbursed free of charge, after the harvest the farmers must return
twice as much to the government.
Seeds were distributed to 29 communities which disbursed seeds to
farmers by a governor's office-municipality-farmer three party
contract based on the principle of nepotism. The farmers were
encouraged by free seeds, they borrowed money from friends of banks to
return it after the harvest.
In Armavir harvest of grains is in July and August but the elite seeds
will not let the farmers wait till then, and in some communities there
will be no harvest at all. The stalks are already 25-30 cm tall and
formed spikes with only 7-10 grains. According to experts, such spikes
grow from second reproduction of degenerated seeds.
According to the RA law on seeds, the ministry of agriculture must
carry out field testing, laboratory testing before certifying seeds.
Article 12 of this law provides for compensation for damage inflicted
on economic operators.
The damage per hectare is 339,000 - 352,000 drams. The total damage
inflicted on farmers for 1270 hectares is 431-447 million drams (1.1
million dollars). If we also count the profit expected by farmers, at
least 100,000 drams per hectare, the total damage is 1.42 million
dollars.
Meanwhile, the ministry of agriculture ignores this major damage
inflicted on farmers and the minister merely announced that the
weather this year was not favorable for wheat. However, other seeds
which were accidentally mixed with the so-called elite seeds grew
70-80 cm tall, with over 14 grains in the spike. This fact proves the
seeds were low quality.
The farmers will have to harvest their fields in 20 days, and the
combine will not be able to gather the short spikes, and this time the
ministry of agriculture will claim that farmers do not know how to
harvest correctly. The same situation is in other regions.
The head of one of the affected villages told us (he wanted to stay
anonymous for clear reasons) there were no elite seeds at all. The
farmers got grain of second reproduction produced by major wheat
farmers who reached agreement with the government.
From: A. Papazian
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/economy26330.html
Published: 12:20:15 - 26/05/2012
Thousands of farmers of Armavir region are facing starvation. They
believed minister Sergo Karapetyan's legends about elite seeds of
wheat and decided to use the RA government program of development of
seed farming and seed production for 2010-2014.
First let us clarify what is elite seed.
The seeds must have a certificate of compliance, cannot have an
analogue, must be adjusted to all the climate zones of the country
where they will be used, must be resistant to draught, productivity
must exceed its former analogues 1.5-2 times.
The farmers trusted government's pledges and received 200-250 kg of
seeds per hectare. 286 tons of elite seeds were provided to the region
of Armavir. According to the government program, the seeds are
disbursed free of charge, after the harvest the farmers must return
twice as much to the government.
Seeds were distributed to 29 communities which disbursed seeds to
farmers by a governor's office-municipality-farmer three party
contract based on the principle of nepotism. The farmers were
encouraged by free seeds, they borrowed money from friends of banks to
return it after the harvest.
In Armavir harvest of grains is in July and August but the elite seeds
will not let the farmers wait till then, and in some communities there
will be no harvest at all. The stalks are already 25-30 cm tall and
formed spikes with only 7-10 grains. According to experts, such spikes
grow from second reproduction of degenerated seeds.
According to the RA law on seeds, the ministry of agriculture must
carry out field testing, laboratory testing before certifying seeds.
Article 12 of this law provides for compensation for damage inflicted
on economic operators.
The damage per hectare is 339,000 - 352,000 drams. The total damage
inflicted on farmers for 1270 hectares is 431-447 million drams (1.1
million dollars). If we also count the profit expected by farmers, at
least 100,000 drams per hectare, the total damage is 1.42 million
dollars.
Meanwhile, the ministry of agriculture ignores this major damage
inflicted on farmers and the minister merely announced that the
weather this year was not favorable for wheat. However, other seeds
which were accidentally mixed with the so-called elite seeds grew
70-80 cm tall, with over 14 grains in the spike. This fact proves the
seeds were low quality.
The farmers will have to harvest their fields in 20 days, and the
combine will not be able to gather the short spikes, and this time the
ministry of agriculture will claim that farmers do not know how to
harvest correctly. The same situation is in other regions.
The head of one of the affected villages told us (he wanted to stay
anonymous for clear reasons) there were no elite seeds at all. The
farmers got grain of second reproduction produced by major wheat
farmers who reached agreement with the government.
From: A. Papazian