Seeds: the need for a market

is also forced on them by the lack of cash in the economy, especially in the rural areas.
       Agricultural scientists working in the region feel the lack of interaction among the newly-independent republics.  The same problem affects the introduction and exchange of germplasm, which have declined markedly.  ICARDA is trying to bridge the gap. It was clear in both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan that scientists valued the opportunity to visit ICARDA for the Central Asia meeting, both to see the work in progress and also to discuss the many topics of shared concern. 
       Tajikistan has great agricultural potential.  Although rainfall is low and rain-fed crops are vulnerable, there are abundant water resources from the mountains, which occupy 93% of the land area. As it is the most southerly republic, winters are milder in the valleys and there is potential for early crop production.
       Livestock are not as important as in the steppe that lies to the north and west in Uzbekistan and especially Kazakstan.  However, Tajikistan is home to the Ghissar sheep, said to be physically one of the largest breeds in the world.  Dr Turner reports that these 'super sheep' are very noticeable as one tours the Ghissar valley around the capital, Dushanbe.
      Everyone hopes that, in a few years, we should see a diverse and productive system in which private farmers play a leading role.  This will require a continuing research input--and, as in every agricultural economy in the world, an efficient and affordable supply of quality seed.

CARDA scientists continue to build links with the countries of Central Asia in various fields of research. This has included the Seed Unit. The Head of the Unit, Dr Michael Turner, visited both Tajikistan and Kyrghyzstan late in 1997 to discuss seed projects, ongoing or in preparation. These visits provided an interesting insight into the special problems of the region. 
      Seed supply is an integral part of agriculture and the challenges facing the seed sector are, inevitably, tied up with those of the agricultural economy as a whole. Of course, each country in the region has its own particular circumstances but they all face some common problems as they restructure their economies, and especially their agricultural production, following independence in 1991.  The basic issue is the need to become much more self-sufficient in food production, whereas in the past there was a planned interdependence. Thus at a national level, there has been a decline in cotton, which was the traditional export crop, and an increase in wheat--the  main  staple grain of the region.   

There is also diversification  into  horticultural crops. 
      At the policy level, the main concern is to press ahead with the privatization of land from the former state and collective farms.  This presents issues of its own. Former employees of those farms may lack either the confidence or the cash resources to make the decisive step to becoming private farmers.  On the other hand, many professional workers bought land

at an early stage in the process but they may lack the knowledge  to manage it properly.  The speed of all agricultural reform, including land reform, varies between the countries of the region--indeed from area to area.
      For the seed sector, all this means a major change. Under central planning, certain large farms specialized in seed production, providing their own needs and those of adjacent farms, but there was no real market as such.  Nowadays, as smaller private farms develop, there is no system of merchants or other suppliers to provide them with seed or other inputs.  There is also very little experience in seed production outside the state farms.  As a result, many farmers have reverted to saving their own seed, since nothing else is available. In some  countries, this