Planning and Monitoring Cell, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar—500 030, Andhra Pradesh
Seven major crops, viz. rice, maize, jowar, bajra, groundnut, sunflower and cotton have been selected to study the growth rates of total cultivated area and total seed production in the state of Andhra Pradesh, over a period of fifteen years, 1989–90 to 2003–04. Seed production gaps have been analyzed by estimating the demand and supply of total seed production for the selected crops in the state. The analysis of compound growth rates has revealed that the area under important crops like rice, maize, sunflower and cotton has increased while that of jowar, bajra and groundnut has decreased, indicating a shift in agriculture from traditional crops to commercial crops. The growth rates for the total seed production of seven selected crops have been found positive and these varied from 0.81 in groundnut to 24.00 in sunflower, indicating the increase in seed production over a period of fifteen years in the state. Demand—supply gap analysis has revealed a surplus seed production in all the crops under study, except rice. It has been observed that the farmers face the problem of non-availability of quality seed, which needs regularisation of sale/marketing of seed to meet the domestic seed requirements. Various policy measures have been suggested to control the production and distribution of quality seeds in the state.
