Context: The National Seeds Corporation (NSC) has initiated the onboarding of its area and regional offices on an online marketplace to ease access to quality seeds and planting materials online.
About National Seeds Corporation
- National Seeds Corporation Ltd. (NSC) was established in March-1963 to undertake production of Foundation and Certified Seeds.
- NSC is a Schedule 'B'-Miniratna Category-l company wholly owned by the Government of India under the administrative control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
- Headquarters: New Delhi.
- It also has 48 area offices, 11 regional offices, and five farms across the country.
- NSC sells seeds and planting material of 80 crops–38 field crops and 42 horticulture crops.
- Apart from seeds, some of the NSC offices are also selling indoor and outdoor plants online, such as aglaonema (lipstick plant), snake plant Haiti, golden pothos (money plant), peace lily, aloevera, and ashwagandha on the platform, where anyone can order.
- Implications: The move to onboard the NSC offices will enable and encourage farmers to buy certified and quality seeds. It would also help to increase the seed replacement ratio of major field crops.