By Azernews

By Rasana Gasimova

The use of new varieties and high-quality agricultural crops seeds can increase the yield in individual crops by 20-30 percent, Chairman of the State Seed Fund Emin Aliyev has said.

Some 5,000 tons of local and imported varieties of seeds were processed during the last season at the newly built seed processing plants of the State Seed Fund in Khachmaz and Sheki regions, Agriculture Ministry reports.

It is also noted that the plants can process up to 5 tons of seeds per hour, supplying 25,000 hectares of quality seeds.

The processing includes four stages. At the first stage, the seeds are cleaned from stone fragments and coarse straw. The second stage consists of cleaning from fine straw and oatmeal, while at the third stage - from small wheat, and at the fourth stage - from seed peel of wheat.

Purified wheat is pickled with a substance that destroys the smut pathogen, and then is collected in 50 kilogram bags. The main advantage of the new plant is seed processing with minimal losses.

The second important step in ensuring quality seed supply is ensuring farmer’s access to seeds. To this end, Seed Foundation has created Seed Sales Offices. ToxumArt centers function in Khachmaz and Zagatala. This center help farmers get acquainted with the products of Seed Foundation's seeding facilities as well as other local seed producers.

 ToxumArt centers will be opened in Jalilabad region soon. The network is expected to be further expand and include various regions of the country.

The State Seed Fund was established due to the country's increased need for new high-yielding and drought-resistant types of seeds, and in a bid to strengthen food security and state support for agricultural development of Azerbaijan in general.

The creation of seed processing plants will continue in 2020 as well. Particularly, it is planned to build new seed processing plants in the southern zones of the country - in Jalilabad and Saatli - in the first half of next year.