ISSD Uganda Integrated Seed Sector Development
October 2015
Pilot Quality Assurance for Quality Declared Seed
Background
ed under the Act. QDS requires
minimum field
inspection and certification standards for variety The use of good quality seed and planting materials of high yielding varieties significantly increases crop production. It is essential that it is available on time and place at affordable prices. In Uganda, there are two co-existing seed systems
purity and germination This meets the needs of smallholder farmers and is a basis for future certified seed market development. QDS is designed to complement the traditional seed and planting material inspection and certification scheme.
through which seed and planting materials are availed to farmers. The formal system is regulated by Government and contributes about 15% of total seed supply. The remaining 85% of seed is produced through the informal system that is unregulated and depends on farm-saved seed from previous cropping.
To promote QDS, the Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) programme Uganda has organised and empowered market-oriented farmers into Local Seed Businesses (LSBs). Currently, 30 LSBs with approximately 900 farmers are operating in
Northern, South Western and West Nile
regions. LSBs produce and market QDS of mainly The Seed and plant Act 2006 provides for five classes of seed including pre-basic, basic, certified (I & II), and standard. The draft National Seed Policy 2014 adds Quality Declared Seed (QDS) as the sixth class of seed to be implementSupporting a vibrant, pluralistic and market oriented seed sector
food and nutritional security crops within their communities and in areas where certified seed from seed companies is not used or sold. In season 2015A, LSBs sold over 1000 tons of various seed (Table 1). www.issduganda.org Info@ISSDuganda.org Twitter: ISSD_Uganda
2 Table 1: Quantity of QDS sold by LSBs in 2015A Seed
This will enhance the growth of the seed trade,
Quantity sold (kg)
while encouraging the use of quality certified seed by the farming communities.
1
Beans
146,539
2
Cassava
760,620
3
Groundnuts
4
Finger millet
5
Potato
13,900
6
Rice
38,053
7
Sesame
21,155
The goal of the innovation project is to test the
8
Soy bean
5,056
9
Pasture
effectiveness of quality assurance system for
3,071
Components of the pilot project
938
Goal
500
QDS and its decentralized field inspection. QDS produced by LSBs was tested at the national seed laboratory in Kawanda and the seed met
Objectives
the minimum national standards of variety puri-
The main objectives are to:
ty and germination (Table 2).
marketing of QDS
Table 2: Quality of QDS produced by LSBs
Seed
Minimum national QDS QDS Purity purity Germination range (%) standard (%) range (%)
Ensure quality control in production and
Minimum national germination standard (%)
Soybean
99
98
88
65
Groundnuts
N/A
NA
82 - 92
60
Promote
use
of
QDS
by
smallholder
farmers
Popularise
use
of
seed
labels
among
various stakeholders.
99.8
98
90
70
The project is being implemented in 25 districts
Sesame
98 - 99.8
98
75 - 92
60
of Western Uganda, Northern Uganda, and West
Beans
99.1 - 100
98
85 - 95
60
Sorghum
99.6 - 99.8
98
63-73
70
Rice
99.4- 99.5
98
90-96
75
Pigeon peas
Nile involving 30 already established LSBs. Special attention will be paid to identifying those
Each seed class has a unique color label for dif-
LSBs that can graduate to a higher level and
ferentiation, for example green for QDS and
they will receive further coaching. The main
blue for certified seed. However, many seed us-
partners are:
ers and law enforcers that tackle counterfeit
Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and
seed are not familiar with the labels on pack-
Fisheries (MAAIF) to support and supervise
aged seed.
the centralized operations
ISSD Uganda to provide technical and financial support
30 LSBs producing QDS
District Agricultural Officers of the 25 districts to conduct field inspections
Kawanda seed laboratory and a pilot seed testing at Ngetta ZARDI to test for purity and germination
Figure 1: A sample of the green QDS label
Uganda Seed Trade Association (USTA) to popularize QDS and certified seed labels
Therefore, it is necessary to operationalize the quality assurance for QDS through a multi-
The
scheme
stakeholder pilot project.
inspection and seed testing is presented in figure 2.
Supporting a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector
for
operationalizing
the
field
3
Week 0
LSBs sow foundation seed from research or authorized entity
Week 2
LSBs submit planting returns to authorized DAO
LSBs pay inspection fees to DAOs
Week 4
DAO inspects LSB fields (1st Inspection)
If fields meet minimum standards Week 6-8
DAO inspects LSB fields (2nd Inspection)
If fields meet minimum standards
Week 16
QDS harvested and processed
LSBs pay testing fees to ISSD Week 17
Seed sampler picks seed from LSBs
Week 17
Seed tested at Kawanda or Ngetta laboratory If seed meet minimum standards
Week 18
Kawanda or Ngetta laboratory issues certificate
Week 19
LSBs submit request for seed labels to ISSD LSBs pay fees for labels to ISSD
Week 19
Week 21
Week 23
Week 24
ISSD submits request for seed labels to MAAIF
MAAIF (NSCS) issues seed labels
Seed packaged and labeled
QDS marketed
Figure 2: Schematic representation of the filed inspections and seed testing www.issduganda.org Info@ISSDuganda.org Twitter: ISSD_Uganda
4 It is estimated the traditional centralized system costs UGX 42M for the 30 LSBs over one season,
whereas
using
the
decentralized
approach of delegated inspection to the DAOs costs will be approximately UGX 8.7M. This represents a significant reduction in transaction costs
and
hence
a
more
cost
effective
decentralized system of inspection. What are the benefits of QDS? Through the quality assurance system, skilled Sustainability
and enterprising farmers involved in informal
For a QDS system to be effective, it must be fi-
seed systems have an opportunity to “graduate”
nancially viable for all actors involved in QDS
into the formal seed system by expanding their
production and it’s quality assurance. The level
production of QDS, establishing a brand name,
of the mandatory services and requirements
and marketing their seed. This will promote use
should take into consideration this vital require-
of Quality seed among farming communities and
ment. This can be achieved by optimizing the
raise household incomes. QDS will also increase
rigors of inspections and seed testing to ensure
smallholder farmers’ demand for quality seed so
conformity to standards, while ensuring that the
as to boost crop productivity and ensure food
LSBs can afford it and smallholder farmers can
security.
buy the seed. Thus, the pilot compares the cost effectiveness of the decentralized scheme and the current centralized inspection by the National Seed certification Service (NSCS). The comparison will look at effectiveness of:
Inspection and certification by NSCS vs delegated DAOs
Seed sampling
Seed testing at Kawanda vs delegated seed laboratory at Ngetta ZARDI
With funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) programme is implemented by Wageningen University and Research Centre, Center for Development Innovation (CDI) in partnership with the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO).
Supporting a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector