Seed certification for horticultural crops:
Present policy and future needs

Introduction Seed is the basic input for agricultural crop production and the effectiveness of other inputs like fertilizer, irrigation etc. depends on seed quality. The production can be increased to about 20% using quality seed itself. Horticulture crops are playing significant role in nutritional improvement, food and financial security of the people of Bangladesh. In the recent years, the country has attained self sufficiency in cereal crops. But production of horticultural crops like vegetables, spices and fruits is much below the required quantity. The area and production of vegetables and spices are shown in Fig. 1 & 2 and Table 1.

Seed certification is a legally sanctioned system of quality control of seeds to be placed for sale. It is the process designed to maintain and make available to the general public continuous supply of high quality seeds and propagating materials of crops to ensure the genetic, physical, physiological and health status. Seed Certification Agency is the only authorized body for certification and quality monitoring of seeds of any kinds or varieties. In Bangladesh existing legislations for quality control of seeds are: a) the Seeds Ordinance, 1977 b) the Seeds (Amendment) Act, 1997 c) the Seeds (Amendment) Act, 2005 d) the Seed Rules, 1998 e) the Nursery Guidelines, 2008 and f) decisions from the National Seed Board (NSB). The Seeds Ordinance, 1977 has already been repealed and it is expected that within very short time The Seed Act 2013 will be placed before the Parliament for acceptance.

Fig. 1. Area of vegetables, spices and fruits Fig. 2. Production of vegetables, spices and fruits (in lac ha) and fruits (in lac