In a pioneering initiative aimed at delivering quality seeds directly to farmers, the state-owned National Seed Corporation (NSC) has launched the sale of various seed varieties and planting materials on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an e-commerce platform. Operating under the ministry of agriculture, NSC has begun onboarding its regional and area offices onto MyStore, an online marketplace connected to ONDC.
Farmers buying seeds and planting materials directly from the corporation helps reduce cost and NSC has tied up with India post and other ONDC logistic players for actual shipping, which can be tracked, an official said. This is the first instance of a government-owned seed firm selling seeds online, while state government-owned seed companies have yet to adopt online platforms for this purpose.
“The buyers benefit because they are buying directly from the seed corporation and there are no intermediaries. Traceability and faith in the seed company also get maintained,” the official told FE. NSC has offices in states such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Odisha. The corporation offers 211 products, including seeds and planting materials for 60 crops—ranging from cereals, oilseeds, pulses, fodder, to vegetables. Of these, 88 products are now available for sale online.
Annually, NSC produces over 100,007 tonnes of certified, high-quality seeds, covering 300 crop varieties. Officials believe that the availability of certified seeds through this platform will help increase the seed replacement ratio for major field crops, leading to higher yields. Additionally, the shift to online sales reduces the corporation’s need to establish physical marketing points, as seed inventories are maintained at NSC’s regional offices.
Currently, 62 locations of NSC’s regional offices, area offices, and central seed farms have been integrated into the ONDC network for the direct sale of seeds and planting materials.In FY24, NSC reported a net profit of Rs 73 crore, with its turnover rising by 6% to1,143 crore, compared to Rs 1,078 crore in FY23.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
