Process of Rice Seed Business Startup in Bangladesh - Agribusiness Education and Research International

Process of Rice Seed Business Startup in Bangladesh:

1. First you need to get a trade license for the business.

2. Entrepreneur should have been involved in seed business for at least three years, say for example, seed buying and selling, marketing should have been involved for at least three years.
3. This three years’ experience certificate should be obtained from the Regional Seed Certification Agency office with the signature of the Seed Certification Officer.
4. The application form of the seed dealership should be downloaded from the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and duly filled, and submitted to the seed certification office along with the trade license, seed certification officer’s certificate and a challan of 2000 TK.
5. Seed dealership license will be available through the Ministry of Agriculture within 1 to 1.5 months of submitting the application.
6. After getting seed dealership license, then, Entrepreneur should apply to Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) to get breeder seed. At the beginning of every season, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) conducts breeder seed meetings, scrutinizes the applications and allocates breeder seeds to the applicants.
7. When the Entrepreneur gets the seed, carefully open the official tag line on the seed packet and apply for seed production to the regional seed certification office along with the tag line. It should be noted that at this time seed dealership license is required, how many farmers will cultivate breeder seeds on how much land, the fee per person of those farmers should be submitted in the form of challan and submitted along with the application of the seed certification office.

8. Then the date of seed sowing, the date of planting the seedlings produced from the seeds in the field by keeping the line spacing in a scientific way, should be informed by filling a form by going to the regional seed certification office. The seed certification office gives a standard schedule, if 80% flowering is done according to the schedule, the seed certification office must be informed, and they visit the field to see the rice plants.
9. After threshing of paddy is completed, the date has to be informed to the seed certification office. Paddy seeds should be dried well and sacks should be filled and the money should be deposited in the regional BADC office for grading.

After grading they will give a certificate. The certificate is to be communicated to the Seed Certification Office and stored in the seed store house in the form of graded seed lots. Then the seed certification officer from the seed certification office after visiting the seed store house, collects the rice seeds sample and takes them to the regional seed certification office to test the quality of the seeds along with the germination rate.

10. The final test gives the official tag line for marketing the base seed from the seed certification office. Then the tag line and the seeds can be sold in the market together with a packet.

After all the expenses, the profit is approximately 15 to 20 taka per kg. Profit is more or less based on marketing skills.

Challenges:
1. The Seed Certification Office has to be informed and communicated on time.
2. Seeds have to be stored well in seed store house and packet varieties have to be made.
3. The first time was a little difficult, but the second time everything was fine.
4. All information including sowing of seeds, planting of saplings should be recorded in the diary.
5. People concerned with agriculture need advice. Insects caught during seed storage require spraying.
6. The seed store house should be kept dry and under temperature control.
7. It is better to buy packet design and seed packing machine.
8. Where the seeds are to be sold, a little contact should be made in advance, especially with the dealers.
9. If the area where the rice grows well, the rice produced in that area will sell well.
10. The rice seed business is better if the tag line is collected and the seed packets are prepared before the start of the season. That is why it is very important to do everything on time according to the schedule provided by the Seed Certification Office.
Opportunities:
1. Rice seed business is more profitable than any other business.
2. It is better to trade rice varieties released by rice research institutes rather than hybrids. At present, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) rice seeds are popular among the farmers.
3. Short-duration rice varieties are very good, it facilitates the production of other crops, so the seed business of short-duration rice varieties is very profitable.
4. Although it was a little difficult in the beginning, the seed business followed the proper rules in production and marketing.
It is possible to be profitable if anyone concentrate.