8.1 The Problems with HYV, Hybrid (FI) and Purchased Seeds

Low Reliability and Quality

Almost all farmers have bitter experience with purchasing low quality or incorrect seeds from the seed seller. For instance, buying seeds named cabbage, but after germination realizing that it is mustard. Farmers also suffer from seeds of low quality – low germination, low yielding variety, disease-contamination, old, etc. Those problems are not unique but very common and serious for farmers in Bangladesh. If a farmer misses the right time for sowing seeds due to purchase of wrong or low quality supply, it causes the failure of his/her crop.

Low Adaptability

Adaptability of seeds is quite important for ecological agriculture. HYV and hybrid (FI) seeds in particular have problems with low adaptability. The HYV seeds are developed in research institutes and hybrid seeds are developed in seed company farms. Both are highly artificial conditions using high doses of agricultural chemicals. They sometimes do not respond well to organic fertilizer because the character of the seed is changed and adjusted for chemical fertilizer. As well, weed crops have been grown in these artificial conditions for many generations. Therefore, the seeds are spoiled and lose their adaptability to local conditions. In addition, most hybrid seeds come from foreign countries such as Japan, the USA and Holland which have completely different climatic conditions (temperate) from Bangladesh’s tropical climate.

High Cost

The cost of seed is not at all cheap for farmers. Local seeds are quite expensive in the local bazaar while the prices of HYV and hybrid seeds are usually 3 to 5 times those prices. Hybrid seeds, from which it is impossible to get the same quality of seeds in the next generation, are especially expensive. If a farmer gets used to using hybrid seeds, they purchase the seeds all the time. It is the aim of seed companies that farmers become dependent on hybrid seeds which are almost all imported.

Uncertain Availability

The seed sowing time for each crop is fixed in a year. If the seeds are not sown at the right time, it causes failure of the crop. Therefore, availability of the seeds at the necessary time is very important. It is uncertain whether or not the seeds will be available in the market at the sowing time. Many farmers sometimes face this problem and need to spend a lot of time searching for seeds.

Genetic Base (Local Varieties) Erosion

Through it is not widely realized among agriculturalists, farmers and others in Bangladesh, the conservation of the genetic base (local varieties) is very, very important. There are two main reasons. One is that local varieties play a big role in enrichment of diversity in crop varieties. Diversity in crop varieties is a key to a stable agro-ecosystem. The other reason is that the local varieties are real genetic resources for the country. Local good yielding seeds have been developed from original local varieties by farmers. The local varieties are original and essential. Without them, no improvement of seeds is possible. Even HYV and hybrid seeds cannot be developed without local varieties

As well, local varieties are very important resources for the future. [Note: Some scientists of industrialized countries and big multi-national companies are fully aware of the potential of local varieties as resources and they have already started to collect a genetic base (local varieties) from tropical countries where there are the most rich resources in genetic base.]

If we could realize the potential of local varieties, we would never allow the present situation, where valuable local varieties are rapidly being lost to continue.