Minister orders tougher laws to protect farmers
\nISLAMABAD
\nMinister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain stressed the need for maintaining zero tolerance against the sale, and supply of substandard seed to protect farmers interest to attain sustainable agriculture development in the country.
\nThe minister chaired the 4th meeting of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority (NSDRA), said a press release.
\nThe meeting was attended by senior ministry officials, representatives from provincial agriculture departments, research institutions, and private sector stakeholders.
\nOpening the proceedings, the Minister reaffirmed that quality seed is the foundation of agricultural productivity and profitability and declared that his foremost priority is to protect farmers\u2019 interests through strict enforcement of seed laws, transparent regulation, and zero tolerance for malpractice.
\nTo strengthen institutional performance, the minister directed the establishment of a Finance and Planning Committee tasked with improving financial governance, ensuring strategic resource planning, and enhancing audit readiness.
\nHe stressed that this measure will guarantee transparency and efficiency within the Authority.
\nOn seed company registration, Rana Tanveer Hussain announced that all new companies will be licensed strictly under the amended Seed Act, with stringent requirements for infrastructure readiness, financial guarantees, and proven compliance with quality standards.
\nHe ordered the mandatory introduction of performance bonds and directed the immediate delisting of dormant or persistently non-compliant companies \u2014 prioritizing farmers\u2019 welfare over commercial interests.
\nApproving seed sector reforms, the minister endorsed the Truth & Labelling system for cotton on a pilot basis, supported by clear eligibility criteria and climate-smart protocols to protect farmers from substandard seed.
\nAddressing farmer protection, Rana Tanveer Hussain directed the Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) to continue assessing seed-related crop loss claims through physical verification, tax number validation, and formal hearings, ensuring swift compensation in genuine cases.
\n\u201cOur mission is clear \u2014 protect the farmer, improve seed quality, and align Pakistan\u2019s agriculture with international best practices. Every step we take must strengthen the seed sector and secure the future of our agriculture\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister orders tougher laws to protect farmers ISLAMABAD Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain stressed the need for maintaining zero tolerance against the sale, and supply of substandard seed to protect farmers interest to attain sustainable agriculture development in the country. The minister chaired the 4th meeting of the Board of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":85363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85364,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85362\/revisions\/85364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}