Rice is our staple food and the main crops in our country. It is very important to produce quality seeds so that we can get quality rice. Thus, producing quality seed in accord with our environment is very important. We learnt that, high quality seed is very important to boost high acre yield.

May I know the major task of your division?
Yes, the use of the high quality seed is very important and to increase the yield of the rice as well as the other crops.
As you know, that there are many factors to increase the yield of various crops. So, the use of quality seed is one of the major factor into increase the yield per unit acres. But now our Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation is now taken full responsibility for the production of quality seed.

Under the Ministry, Myanmar Agriculture service has 35 seed farms throughout the country. So, all these farms are now multiplying and producing the quality seeds for the farmers. That is many advantages on using the good quality seeds for the farmers. Definitely it will increase the yield by using this good quality seeds. And it also has the better adaptation and can also tolerant to pest and disease, pressure and it will also improve the grain quality. So that by using the good quality seeds, the farmers will be able to increase the yield as well as improve their quality and they will get the higher profit of this.

I’d like to know about the quality seeds?
Yes, quality seeds are seeds which are genetically pure and seeds which have a very high germination and free from other inert matter, weeds and other crops that we called it seeds.

What is the different between grain and seed?
Generally, by seeds we mean seeds which can be used for the planting for the next season usually it is genetically pure. And grain is for consumption only it is grow by the farmer traditionally. They can use for consumption as well as they will use as seeds from the same storage Godaung. That is the quality grain.

What is the major works of seed quality control?
Yes, to be able to produce the good quality seed, we have been implementing four major work. One is field inspection, you have to go into the field and inspect the field whether they are really uniform or not and another one is seed sampling after you get the seed sampling after you get the seed, you have to take the sample and you have to test for the seeds testing and the third is the germination percentage, you have to test the germination whether it will be good for the next season or not. And the last one is certification after you test all the seeds in the seed testing laboratory, then you are going to, we are going to provide the certification so that what percentage of seed are pure, how many percentage of germination are good in this seed like that. So according to this seed quality control major work, we are implementing in our division.

I’d like to know the seed distribution system?
Yes, there are four stages of seed production in the division. One is breeder seed production. Breeder seed production is mainly responsible from the Central Agriculture Research Institute under the close supervision of plant breeder. And second is the foundation seed and third is registered seed. Foundation seed and registered seed are produced and multiplied in our division in the whole country. After we get the registered seed, we give it to the cent act farmers through the extension people. And those contact farmers are producing the satisfied seeds and then they can sell quality seeds to the other farmers. By selling or by exchanging the seed among them so according to this seed distribution program we are implementing our seed production.

What are the most important factors in seed quality?
Yes, the most important factor in seed quality is one is purity; it has will be very pure. There will be no inert matter, no disease and pest and no other crop seeds, and no weed seed the only the very purified seed can be used in cultivation.

The second is the germination; germination is also quite important. The farmers when they went to grow the seeds, first, they have to see whether the seeds are good germination or not if it is very low germination, you can not get the require amount of plant population in your field so you need to have high germination percentage in your seed for the next season. And another one is moisture content. It is very important in the storage. When you have higher moisture content in the storage this moisture will cause heat in the seed and it will kill embryo of the seed and the next year, you can not plant for the next season. The seed is already dead. That’s why, in the quality control system, the purity, germination and moisture are very important factors for the seed quality control. Due to the systematic plantation and with cross-breeding, the quality and out put of rice would be very much better.