Supply-demand Gap of Formal Seeds for Fodder and Green Manure Crops in the Eastern Plain Zone of U.P.

Fodder plays an important role in the profitability of the livestock sector. One of the major constraints to the low productivity of livestock enterprises in India is the feed and fodder deficit. A deficit of 65 per cent of green fodder and 25 percent of dry fodder is expected for Indian livestock by 2025 (Chaudhary et al., 2012; Singh et al., 2013). Uttar Pradesh has also a shortage of green and dry fodder 38.28 per cent and 0.66 per cent, respectively (Govt. of UP, 2019-20). The regional deficits are more important than the national deficit, especially in fodder which is not economical to transport over long distances. Further, there is a major problem of low-quality crop residues for the forage requirement of livestock which is not enough for the maintenance of animal health and productivity.

On the other hand, green manure is a remedial approach towards agriculture. These crops are grown for the benefit of soil fertility and economic viability, which reduces the environmental impact of agriculture. Uttar Pradesh has a strong agriculture base being the largest producer of foodgrains, sugarcane, potato and milk. Despite this, the output per hectare of almost all the crops in the state is low particularly Eastern plain zone of the state where the soil nutrients exhaustive cropping system i.e., Paddy-Wheat, is predominately practiced. The share of cropped area under wheat and paddy is still very high in the Easter Plain Zone of Uttar Pradesh accounting for about 68 percent of the total cropped area in this zone of U.P.

Seed is the most critical input to enhance the productivity of fodder and green manure crops. Good quality seed/planting material is one of the major limitations towards less area and production in forage crops (Parihar, 2010). Seed, being the principal input in determining productivity, seed replacement should be given utmost priority. In the Indian context, for a long period, the seed requirement of farmers has mainly been met by farm-saved seed, i.e., 65 per cent of the farmers are using their own saved seed or seed distributed among them. Making quality seed available at the right time is a greater challenge than production per se. The Indian seed delivery system consists of both formal and informal systems. Even with investment in the formal system, as about 60-65 per cent of seed in use is un-labelled. It shows the deficiency in the seed delivery system and provides the scope for improvement in the seed delivery system of these crops. Inadequate availability of quality seeds of desired species at reduced cost is one of the major problems in the adoption of green manure practices.

There are different sources of seed supply developed by government of India in order to meet the increasing demand of seed by farmers and others. This has to some extent reduced the dependence of farmers on own saved seeds but has not been able to diminish it fully (Poonia, 2013). One of the basic reasons for the declining share of private sector in recent years is the increased dependence of Indian farmers on farm saved seeds. In India it is estimated that over two-thirds of farmers produce seeds from their own harvest (Sahai, 2000). According to Reddy et al., (2007), almost all smallholder farmers continue to take recourse in farmer-obtained seed (including their own) is not only because of their inadequate access to the formal sector but also because the few cultivars and varieties on offer in the formal seed sector do not meet their needs. The production of certified seed by following an efficient chain is still a major concern (Niti Ayog, 2018).

Considering the importance of fodder and green manure crops seed in the sustainable development of agriculture and livestock sectors, the proposed study entitled “Supply-demand gap of formal seeds of fodder and green manure crops in the Eastern Plain Zone of U.P.” will throw light on respect of supply-demand gap, causes of the gap and seed replacement rates of fodder and green manure crops. The following hypotheses were made for the study:
1.  There is a gap between the demand and supply of fodder and green manure crop seeds.
2.  There is an inverse relationship between farm size and the use of formal seed of fodder and green manure crops.
3.  The seed replacement rate is low for fodder and green manure crops.

The study was based on a survey conducted on a well-structured schedule during 2022 and 2023 at Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Shri Durga Ji Post Graduate College, Chandeshwar, Azamgarh. U.P. Three stages of random sampling were adopted to select the blocks, villages and farmers while the Eastern Plain Zine and sample districts were chosen purposively for the study. Uttar Pradesh is divided into nine agro-climatic zones. Of these, the Eastern Plain Zone was selected purposively following the criterion of agricultural productivity (foodgrains) and yield gap. Tripathi (2019) in his report on ‘Doubling the Farmers’ Income in Uttar Pradesh by 2022: Opportunities and Constraints’ mentioned that the Eastern Plain Zone has the lowest agricultural productivity (23.43 qtl./ha) among all the agro-climatic zones of the state except Vindhayan zones (17.62 qtl./ha) and Bundelkhand (14.58 qtl./ha). Verma et al. (2019) in their study found that the yield gap (potential and actual yield) of major crops in the Eastern Plain Zone varies 29 qtl./ha for rice, 30 qtl./ha for maize, 18 qtl./ha for bajra, 24 qtl./ha for gram, 31 qtl./ha for wheat. 

After the selection of the agro-climatic zone, the sample districts were chosen from the sample zone i.e., Eastern Plain Zone. The Eastern plain zone comprises 12 districts namely Barabanki, Ayodhya including Ambedkar Nagar, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Ballia, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Bhadohi (86%). Out of 12 districts of the sample zone, 05 districts namely Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Ballia were selected purposively because these districts are demarcated medium to low productivity districts. Verma (2019) in his study found that these districts fall in the category of medium to low productivity index for foodgrains (crop yield indices range 68.58-104.16). Further, according to the data of ICRISAT downloaded from its website http://data.icrisat.org/dld/src/crops.html on 18^th March, 2022, a large area of fodder crops was grown in the districts was selected for the study. The area under fodder crops (th. ha) in Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Ballia districts is 11.23, 5.93, 5.23, 3.59 and 3.6, respectively.

In the next step, three stages of random sampling were adopted to select the Blocks, Villages and farmers. One Block with 06 villages and 60 farmers (10 farmers from each village) was selected randomly from each district for the study. So that study was comprised of a total of 05 Blocks, 30 Villages and 300 farmers. Further, the total number of farmers to be selected from each village was the sum of the proportionate number of marginal, small and large farmers. Those farmers were included in the sample who had grown either one fodder or one green manure crop or both.

Acreage under fodder and green manure crops
 
District-wise acreage under fodder crops in the Eastern plain zone of U.P. was estimated and presented in Table 1. The table reveals that the percentage area under fodder crops to the net sown area in districts of the Eastern plain zone varied 0.39 per cent to 3.58 per cent. The Eastern plain zone accounted 1.55 per cent of acreage under fodder crops to net sown area. The table further reveals that the area under kharif fodder was more as compared to the area under Rabi and Zaid fodder crops in all districts, except Ghazipur, indicating the disproportionate distribution of area under fodder crops across the season. It is further reported (Table 2) that the area under green manure crops varied 0.03-1.16 per cent in the districts of the zone indicating insignificant proportionate coverage to the net sown area.




 
Supply-demand gap of formal seeds for fodder crops
 
Presently, the country faces a net shortfall of 35.6 per cent of green fodder, 10.5 per cent of dry crop leftovers and 44 per cent of concentrate feed ingredients. The option for increasing land area under fodder cultivation is very limited (Singh et al., 2022). Hence, it is a big challenge in front of us to utilize the available meager land wisely with its fullest potential to produce the fodders for the animals. The productivity of forage crops depends upon various factors and appropriate seed is one of them (Rahman and Cho, 2016). Non-availability of quality seeds of forage crops is also limiting fodder productivity in India. 

Hence, crops-wise and farmers category wise supply-demand gap of formal seeds for fodder and green manure crops was estimated and presented in Table 3 and 4. Findings presented in Table 3 reveal that the supply-demand gap of formal seeds of fodder crops was 56 per cent for sorghum and Perlmillet (bajra), 50 per cent for maize, 52 per cent for barseem (Trifolium alexandrinum). The formal seeds of oats, cowpea, lucerne and napier grass were found negligible. The gap in the supply-demand gap of formal seeds of fodder crops across the various categories of the farms viz., marginal and small farmers (<1 ha), medium farmers (1-2 ha) and large farmers (>1 ha) was also estimated and found that significant gap in the supply-demand of formal seeds of fodder was reported in the study area. The supply-demand gap was found 34 per cent, 39 per cent and 41 per cent for sorghum at the marginal and small farms, medium farms and large farms, respectively.



Similarly, supply-demand gap was found 42 per cent, 44 per cent and 54 per cent for sorghum at the marginal and small farms, medium farms and large farms, respectively. The estimated gap for barseem was reported 56 per cent, 58 per cent and 48 per cent at the marginal and small farms, medium farms and large farms. From the above analysis, we may say that the size of the farm and gaps in demand and supply of formal seeds for fodder crops in the study area was positively associated. Thomas and Thomas (2019) in their study reported that only 25-30 per cent of the required quantity of quality seeds is available in cultivated fodders. So, there is a need to evolve superior varieties of forage crops with high yield and quality and also development of new technologies for multiplication.
 
Supply demand gap of formal seeds for green manure crops
 
The urd (Vigna mungo), moong (Vigna radiata) and dhaincha (Sesbania bispinosa) were the main crops grown for green manuring in the study area. The supply-demand gap was estimated for seeds of green manure crops (urd, moong, dhaincha, pea, sunhemp) and presented in Table 4. Table shows that the supply-demand gap for urad, moong and dhaincha was 59 per cent, 57 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively. The farm’s category-wise supply-demand gap was highest for large farmers and lowest for marginal farms indicating an inverse relationship between the size of the farm and the use of formal seeds for green manure crops in the study area. The gap at marginal and small farms, medium farms and large farms for urd was 46 per cent, 52 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively. Similarly, the marginal and small farms, medium farms and large farms reported supply-demand gaps of 49 per cent, 52 per cent and 64 per cent for moong and 6.5 per cent, 39 per cent and 39.8 per cent for dhaincha crop. The formal seeds of pea and sunhemp were found negligible.


 
Seed replacement rates (SRRs) for fodder and green manure crops
 
Seed replacement rate (SRR) is a criterion to assess the use of certified and/or quality seed of a crop and indicates the area under quality seeds. The seed replacement ratio is a measure of how much of the total cropped area was sown with certified seeds in comparison to farm-saved seeds (Chand, 2007). Improving SRR helps in enhancing the productivity of the crop. Table 5 shows that the SRR was highest for cowpea (49.6%) followed by sorghum, maize, perlmillet (bajra) and barseem accounted 48.3 per cent, 46.2 per cent, 45.4 per cent and 42.3 per cent, respectively. Further, oats and lucerne accounted 100 per cent use of formal seeds but these were grown by only a few large farmers. 

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Similarly, Table 6 shows seed replacement rates (SRR) for green manure crops indicating the share of formal seeds as percentage of cropped area. The SRR was highest for dhaincha (65.00%) followed by moong (42.35%), urd (40.18%). Table 6 further reveals that marginal and small farmers use proportionate more land for cultivation of fodder and green manure crops by formal seeds compared to large farmers. Alternatively, the proportion of land allocated for formal seeds declines with the size of landholdings for fodder and green manure crops. Seed replacement for fodder and green manure crops were positively associated with the price and timely availability of the formal seeds (Table 7). Farm size is negatively associated with SRR of the fodder and green manure crops in the study area. Low SRR signifies the need to strengthen the seed supply systems for fodder and green manure crops.



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Perceptions of the seed characters by farmers
 
The distribution of farmers on various parameters of accessibility of formal seed is provided in Table 7. The attitude of the farmers toward access to formal seeds from different sources was found to be the significant cause of the supply-demand gap mentioned above (Table 4 and 5). It is clear from Table 7 that the formal seeds produced by the private sector were the best on the quality scale among the seeds that were made available from different sources. However, the seeds of the public sector also had a significant place in terms of quality. On the other hand, seeds from the informal sector were given less preference by farmers in terms of quality. Despite these, the reason for the gap found in the access to formal seeds belonging to the public sector was its non-availability in time and quantity. The availability of seeds of desired varieties through the public sector was also an issue of concern. Whereas, access to formal seeds belonging to the private sector was limited due to higher prices in comparison to the farmers’ saved seeds and formal seeds of the public sector causing the supply-demand gap for the fodder and green manure crops. 

The informal seeds were found cheapest among all as almost 64 per cent of farmers believed that the seed prices through the informal system varied from cheap to very cheap in prices. The public sector also provided the seeds at lower prices in comparison to the private sector and informal sectors but farmers thought that the seeds from the public sector were less available compared with seeds produced by farmers and the private sector. Whereas formal seeds provided through the private sector were made available in time and proper quantity as 66 per cent of farmers agreed to fair availability and 23 per cent of farmers reported reasonably abundant the seeds through the private sector. Apart from this, the informal seeds for fodder and green manure crops were made available timely at cheap prices. Hence, the question arises of how formal sectors, either private or public sector, channelize the formal seeds through the informal sector so that seeds are made available in time and at the possible lowest prices.

The most important input to increase the yield of crops used as green manure and fodder is seed. Inadequacies in these crops’ seed distribution systems can have a negative impact on the productivity of livestock and agriculture. One of the main obstacles to the adoption of livestock enterprises and green manure practices is the inadequate supply of high-quality seeds of desired species at lower costs. It was observed that there were different sources of seed supply to meet the increasing demand of seed of fodder and green manure crops to the farmers. This had to some extent reduced the dependence of farmers on their own saved seeds but had not been diminished fully. Hence, a gap in the supply of the formal seeds of fodder and green manure crops was reported. The inability of the public sector seed distribution system to provide formal seeds in a timely and sufficient quantity, along with the higher cost of formal seeds from the private sector, contributed to the formation of the supply-demand gap. Due to their availability in appropriate quantities and at reasonable rates, farmers favoured informal seeds for green manure and fodder crops over formal seeds. Additionally, it was shown that the use of formal seeds and farm size had an inverse relationship, suggesting that large farmers have the capacity to generate their own seed. Therefore, it may be inferred that in order to meet the actual demand, large farmers could be encouraged to generate formal seeds for green manure and fodder crops by integrating public and private formal seed-producing systems. The seed replacement rate indicates that fodder and green manure crop seed supply systems need to be strengthened.

This study was carried out with financial support from the Uttar Pradesh Council of Agricultural Research (UPCAR), Lucknow under a research project entitled “Market chain analysis for fodder and green manure crops seed in the Eastern Plain Zone of U.P.” and conducted at Department of Agricultural Economics, Shri Durga Ji Post-Graduate College, Chandeshwar, Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.