V. SEED USE AND SUPPLY

V.1. SEED USE

V.1.1 Planting Rates

Average, or commonly-used, planting rates reported are:

V.1.2. Cereal Seed Requirements

"Theoretical" need for seed (all material planted by farmers) of main crops is shown in the main report. Varying by year and area planted, total wheat seed requirement (1998 to 2001) was some 127,000 to 136,000 MT.

V.2. SEED SUPPLY

V.2.1. FAO Emergency Intervention Seed Program

FAO emergency intervention produced, procured, processed and distributed seed. Production was contracted with implementing partners (IP's-- ISE, NGO's, sometimes communities and some Department of Agriculture) to further contract seed production with farmer-growers. FAO helped distribute "Foundation" seed produced on ISE farms to IP's for their contracted growers to plant. Inspectors/supervisors of FAO and the IP's inspected fields and selected those to be accepted for seed. Using the stationary seed cleaning plant, portable seed cleaners, and traditional methods, FAO took care of cleaning, testing, and packing, and provided machinery and certification materials. FAO, (in the absence of seed certification) supervised production of "quality-declared" seed. Tunwar (2002) reports production of "quality-declared" seed as ranging from 2,510 MT to 4,856 MT per year, until 2000 when production was doubled.

V.2.2. Seed Prices

The ACBAR coordinating committee establishes prices, followed by all, for both cash price and seed-to-grain exchange. When seed is purchased for cash, a 10% premium is established for this year. The premium has been 20%, but is lower this year because of the emergency situation and to try to get more seed to farmers. FAO is involved in the WFP food-for-seed program, and has been procuring seed by giving the grower 1.25 kg of food grain for each 1.0 kg of seed obtained.

V.2.3. "Informal" Seed Production

Most (90+%) seed used has been from the "informal" system; i.e., farmer-saved or obtained from other farmers or the market. There is little alternative to informal seed.

Informal seed production and supply actually has distinct advantages in Afghanistan. The tightly-knit village and village Shurah system should make it relatively easy for Extension to train farmers and guide effective village-level seed production and supply.

V.2.4. "Formal" Seed Production

A classic formal seed sector has never existed. A rudimentary "formal seed sector" has been operated by FAO's program through ISE and other IP's under the emergency intervention program supported by WFP. By 2001, it was reported that 4,904 farmer-seed growers were under contract in 17 provinces. Production for 2001 was 7,108 MT wheat, 56.5 MT barley, 27 MT chickpea, 213.7 MT rice, 419.5 MT maize, and 171.5 MT pulses.

V.3. IMPROVED SEED ENTERPRISE (ISE)

The Afghan Seed Company (ASC) was formed in 1976 to produce, process, test, certify, distribute and sell seed. Its main crop was wheat. Some 1,500-2,500 MT of seed were produced annually. In 1985, its name was changed to the Improved Seed Enterprise (ISE), and wheat seed and vegetable seed and seedlings were produced. 21 farms were transferred to ISE, with a total of 11,768.27 ha, 5,504.87 ha under cultivation. ISE's headquarters was in Kabul, with several sub-offices in different provinces.

"At the time of the collapse of the government of Dr. Najibullah, all facilities were lost due to large-scale looting which followed the change in the regime" (FAO reports).

There is serious doubt as to whether ISE can play an effective role in Afghanistan under today's conditions. Some feel that ISE should be closed, and more appropriate systems supported. This should be evaluated closely and critically.

V.4. FIELD SEED PRODUCTION CONDITIONS

Contaminants: Most fields appear to be varietal mixtures, and rye and wild oats contaminants are common. In fields and along edges, Convolvulus spp and other weeds are common. It is difficult to understand, without actually seeing fields, the extent to which rye seed survive and produce volunteer plants. Production of clean, pure wheat seed will require training farmers to rogue out undesirable plants. This is not a common practice in "informal" seed supply.

Aphids: A major problem, aphids transmit a stripe disease, cause leaf curling, and generally sap the plants. It was reported that, if uncontrolled, aphids can reduce wheat yields by 50% if the fields. With control sprays (several insecticides reportedly give good control), yield reduction is said not to exceed 10%.

Diseases: Major diseases of wheat are rust, loose smut, stripe, yellow rust and bunt. Farmer varieties (local landraces) are much more susceptible to diseases than improved varieties. Recommended seed treatments are used by few farmers, so seedborne diseases such as smut (bunt) are common. Yellow rust is a major problem in the Northern Region, as crops grown from local varieties are highly susceptible. Also, some older varieties have lost their resistance. (FAO). A combination of seed treatment and resistant varieties is the only effective control.

Water: Lack of water is the main problem. Afghanistan has enough water to crop about half of its "irrigable" area. The extended drought reduced this significantly. The drought caused a rush to install tube wells, by farmers financially able to do so (many apparently with relatives abroad). There appears to be good underground water supply. In the Kabul, Bagram, Wardak, and Ghazni areas, it was reported that "drinking water" (i.e., smaller amounts) could be found at 30-50 meters depth, while "irrigation water" (i.e., larger amounts) could be found at 90-200+ meters.

Number of Seed Varieties Per Farm: It is normal practice to limit the number of seed varieties grown on one farm. On FAO-contracted seed production in Ghazni, 7 different wheat varieties were grown on the same farm. This is an adaptation to local operating conditions, and seems to be acceptable here. Only good farmers with suitable facilities should be used for seed production; reaching fields should be cost-effective; and the farmer should have adequate finances to conduct the required operations. Such farmers are not easy to find, and harvest methods are different so that fields can be kept separate. Hand harvest methods, with close supervision of laborers, can prevent mechanically mixing seed/plants among different fields.

Field Size: Most fields are small, as are most farms. FAO selects larger farms, as they have better facilities and capabilities to produce seed.

Roguing: Roguing several times is an absolute necessity to produce seed. Plants must be pulled up by the roots and removed from the fields; they cannot be broken off, or they will resume growing. FAO seed production supervisors advise that rye must be rogued out after every irrigation, beginning at the heading stage. To produce good seed, some chemical controls may be necessary.

V.5. SEED HARVEST AND CONDITIONING

Harvest: Seed harvest, just as all grain harvest, is largely by hand. Wheat plants are cut by hand sickle, tied in bundles, stacked to complete drying, and then moved to a threshing floor where the grain is threshed by trampling. It was reported that "no combines or portable threshers are now used in Afghanistan", although it seems likely that some larger farms have brought threshers from Pakistan.

Informal Seed Cleaning: "Informal sector" seed is cleaned by traditional methods. ICARDA-Kabul reports that seed is not cleaned by contracted farmer-growers who produce wheat seed. ICARDA, after inspecting and accepting fields which meet standards, takes seed to a central location where laborers clean the seed to ICARDA's purity standards by traditional methods. Five laborers clean approximately 1 MT per day.

Program ("Formal") Seed Cleaning: Four ISE plants (Herat, Pulekhumri, Kandahar, and Kabul) are implementing partners (IP's)of the FAO seed program. The Heart plant is the only functioning stationary plant. With a 5 MT/hour cleaning capacity with equipment from AGROSAW of India it includes seed processing, storage, and a small testing lab. Small and/or portable seed cleaners were introduced by FAO and some NGO's. FAO established 8 portable cleaner operations. One NGO reportedly plans to contract fabrication in Afghanistan of a small hand-powered seed cleaner. ICARDA is introducing portable cleaners also.

Post-Conflict Status: The Herat stationary plant escaped looting, and is in good condition. FAO reports that the portable cleaners and other locations have been looted, to the point of requiring replacement.

Needs: Afghanistan needs small mechanical threshers for wheat, and has 2 kinds of needs in seed conditioning:

1. Stationary cleaning facilities where there is a larger volume of long-term seed production. For example, where ICARDA establishes seed accumulation storages, a small stationary cleaning plant could be installed.

2. Small portable seed cleaners in isolated areas and where small amounts of seed are produced.

Seed treatment: Essential because of prevalence of wheat diseases.

Facilities: should be fairly small, installed at a number of strategic locations to minimize seed transport and handling costs, and serve local growers and farmer-seed-users.

V.6. SEED MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION

V.6.1. Emergency Situation

During the emergency, seed has been largely distributed by NGO's, who have detailed information on farmers and ensure that seed go to needy farmers. Most farmers receive one 50-kg bag of wheat seed. Other seed have also been distributed, including vegetables in a few cases. The receiving farmer returns seed/grain from the crop he produces, as payment for the seed, as 1:1, 1:1.25, or 1:1.5 by weight. Only a few reported giving free seed, which should be discouraged. One NGO said "because of dire conditions in areas we serve, we will be satisfied if we get grain returned for 70% of the seed we distribute".

V.6.2. By Seed Programs

ISE distributed seed through various channels including Extension, MOAL agencies, communities, etc. During the conflict, most seed has been distributed by NGO's. ISE-Kabul does no marketing/distribution; it announces over the radio that seed is available at its storage. After certification from the local Extensionist that they are bona fide farmers, farmers go to the ISE storage and purchase seed.

V.7. AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

V.7.1. Role of Extension in Seed and Crops

In Afghanistan (this does not hold for other countries), the most appropriate channel for distributing improved seed would be through Agricultural Extension, once it is rehabilitated and trained. Local Extensionists could be initiators and technical advisors, and help develop local good-seed (in an Extension-guided informal seed supply context) production, to bring villages into seed production as a small agro-enterprise development. An organized form of informal seed production and supply should be encouraged, fostered, organized and supported in Afghanistan by a strong Extension program.