Mechanism for Production and Distribution of HYV Seeds of Rice and Wheat in Himachal Pradesh Sharma K. D., Chauhan S. K., Thakur D. R. Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension Education & Rural Sociology, College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalya, Palampur – 176 062, Himachal Pradesh Online published on 9 October, 2012. Abstract The study carried out in Himachal Pradesh as part of a NAIP (ICAR) project titled, ‘Visioning Policy Analysis and Gender (V-PAGe)’ has examined seed production and delivery mechanism in the state. The adoption process of new variety of crop is influenced by the rate at which the breeder seed is multiplied to produce adequate quantity of certified seed. However, actual internal supply of certified seeds of two main cereal crops, viz. rice and wheat in the state has been found to fall short of the normative supply for 20 per cent replacement, giving low seed replacement ratio (8–10%). The production of foundation seed on State Seed Multiplication Farms (SMFs) has decreased over the years due to lack of irrigation infrastructure and paucity of staff. The production of certified seeds by registered growers has also shown year-to-year fluctuations bringing instability in the supply of seeds of improved varieties in the state. Therefore, number of certified seed growers and area under certified seeds should be increased. Public R&D institutions (like private seed companies) should strive to integrate research, extension, seed production and marketing for better performance and input delivery through their satellite Research Stations and KVKs. The private seed agencies and village level primary cooperative societies should be encouraged to participate in the seed production and distribution programme. Top Keywords Seed requirement, seed multiplication, seed replacement, HYV seeds, rice, wheat, Himachal Pradesh. Top |