In his 66 years, Sarju Dev has seen how the quality of seed can make or break a farmer. In Babarpur village of Haryana's Panipat district, he is known as a shrewd man who's never lost a paisa because of a bad decision on farm inputs like seed. "For wheat, paddy and vegetable seeds, I trust Rajinder Singh, seed grower and local input dealer,' Dev explains. Singh is one of the largest farmers in the village, and he and Dev have an understanding. "I pay him Rs 50 per kg of wheat seed, and use the same seed for three years. The cost is negligible in the overall cost of cultivation. In case he provides a new, costly variety, I sow it only on a small part of my farm. Besides, Rajinder asks for money only when the crop is successful.' On his part, Singh sources foundation seeds from a seeds businessman in Delhi, who in turn buys from the National Seeds Corporation.

Only one-fifth of our farmers regularly buy seeds from corporations in the private or the public sector. 80-70 per cent of farmers arrange seeds like Sarju Dev does