ARDC Wengkhar with supports from CARLEP – IFAD promotes vegetable seed production by small scale growers. With supports from the project, the centre recently began proper packaging of vegetable seeds produced by some 20 vegetable seed growers in the six eastern Dzongkhags.  The packages with easy to seal and open zip locks comes in three sizes depending on types of crop.  Each grower is provided with packaging materials, name seals, dates of packaging and sticky labels for crops they grow. Seeds which are sold in local market shall be packed in the new packaging as required per quality standards. Growers will support their packaging from the following year with facilitation of the Centre.

Growing seeds can be a viable business for small scales growers especially in the current situations of an erratic supply of seeds.  Growers earn on average Nu. 45 000 to as high as 150, 000 in a year from seed plots less than an acre of land.

ARDCs seed production program is currently supported with funds from CARLEP IFAD. The crops and the cultivation practices were introduced since 2010 under the JICA Technical Cooperation Projects – HRDP – JICA. The centre is also currently working on linking growers with the National Seed Centre and Private Seed Companies for long term marked linked production.

Update from: ARDC facebook page 

Image courtesy: Sherab Dema, Vegetable Seed Grower, Trashigang.