Comparative Economics of Domestic and Imported Pre-Basic Potato Seed

Chaudhry, M. Aslam, Siddique, M. Javed, Jalal, Nayyar, Qureshi, Sohail Afzal, Economic Review

INTRODUCTION

There is a need to increase and ensure food availability for the future in the face of population growth of over 3 percent per annum. Potato is an important food crop and has the potential to supplement the production of cereals. Government and farmers can look forward to increase its productivity for more food, energy and income.

Potato is a high yielding cash crop, gives 12-15 times more tonnage per unit area than the cereals. It has more nutritional value as compared to some other important crops. In terms of income, potato can be the most profitable crop depending, of course, upon the market situation. In 1985-86 the value of potato crop was Rs.21.20 thousand per hectare. (Pak. Swiss Potato Development Project, Report 1989). This figure was substantially higher than the value of crops like wheat or rice per hectare. In 1994-95 according to latest estimates potato was grown over an area of 79.3 thousand hectares and the output was 1105 thousand tonnes (Agriculture Statistics of Pakistan, 1995).

The output of Potato crop depends upon the quality of seed used. Unfortunately, the quality of potato seed sown in Pakistan is generally very poor, because the seed stock is not being renewed regularly by the farmers. As a result the potato productivity has stared diminishing.

At present, on an average, only 3500 tongues, of certified seed (imported and local) is yearly supplied throughout Pakistan whereas the potential demand for certified seed is around 10000-12000 tonnes annually. On the average, the quantity of imported seed annually is around 2000 tonnes (PSPDP seed strategy paper 1990). There is extensive expenditure of foreign exchange (i.e. 700 to 1000 million rupees per …

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Publication information: Article title: Comparative Economics of Domestic and Imported Pre-Basic Potato Seed. Contributors: Chaudhry, M. Aslam - Author, Siddique, M. Javed - Author, Jalal, Nayyar - Author, Qureshi, Sohail Afzal - Author. Magazine title: Economic Review. Volume: 28. Issue: 1 Publication date: January 1997. Page number: 39+. © 1998 Economic and Industrial Publications. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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