During the second Annual General Meeting of Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) held on Saturday at IFFCO Sadan in Delhi, its Chairman Yogendra Kumar revealed that the newly floated national co-op would be able to offer certified seeds for the Rabi crop of 2025-26..
Addressing the AGM in hybrid mode, Kumar, who also serves as the Marketing Director of co-op giant IFFCO, stated that BBSSL aims to grow its business to Rs 15,000 crores in the next five years. “We need your support to achieve this ambitious goal,” Kumar exhorted during the session.
While two Board members, Chairman Yogendra Kumar and ICAR’s D.K. Yadav, attended the AGM in person, the remaining Board members, namely Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, Pankaj Bansal, Meenesh Shah, Bijender Singh, and Dr. Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, MD of Seed Corporation of India, attended the AGM virtually.
Speaking to Indian Cooperative, BBSSL Managing Director Chetan Joshi informed that about 7,715 delegates from 31 states and UTs were also connected to the AGM virtually. Joshi added that BBSSL has received approximately 17,000 applications for membership, out of which 13,354 co-ops have already been issued shares of BBSSL.
In a relatively short span, BBSSL has successfully converted breeder seeds into 14,000 quintals of foundation seeds. “In the upcoming Rabi season, BBSSL will work with farmers to produce certified seeds, which will be ready for use by farmers in the Rabi season of 2025-26,” Kumar informed.
It is important to note that BBSSL is a comprehensive organization overseeing advanced and traditional seed research, production, processing, and marketing through the cooperative sector. The organization was recently established under the guidance of the Ministry of Cooperation.
BBSSL extends support to cooperatives across the country in demand-based seed production, building infrastructure for storage, processing, packaging, logistics, quality enhancement, standardization, certification, and marketing of the seeds produced.
Key cooperatives involved in this ambitious project include IFFCO, Kribhco, NAFED, and two government-aided bodies, NDDB and NCDC. The initiative also plans to integrate the smallest cooperative units, PACS, into this national-level seed cooperative. PACS will not only serve as consumers but will also become producers of certified seeds, addressing the long-standing shortage of land for certified seed development.
BBSSL also aims to assist cooperative societies in the multiplication and conservation of traditional seeds of various crops and varieties.
According to a study, only 47% of all seeds used in the country are certified. It has been observed that productivity can increase by 15-20% when certified seeds are used. Even a 1% increase in the usage of certified seeds could result in an additional 5 lakh tonnes of grains.
The current market for certified seeds is worth Rs 36,000 crores, and if full conversion to certified seeds is achieved, the market could grow to between Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 crores, as per the study. 
