Western Seeds Ltd.
Indian Agriculture is one of the most important sector in the economy of the country. Agriculture itself produces more than 18.5 percent of the Gross Domestic product of the country, and more than 60 percent people of Indian population are involved in agriculture. There has been a continuous decline in the share of Agriculture and Allied sector in the GDP from 14.6 % in 2011 to 13.9 % in 2013-14 at 2004-2005 prices.
India with 2.4 % of the world land has to feed 16.7 and 15 percent human and cattle population of the world, respectively. Thereby, India needs to feed large population with less land, less water and less energy under more unpredictable weather conditions. By the year 2050, it is predicted that world’s population will exceed nine billion people. That is 1,50,000 new mouths to be feed every single day. To address that we need to double our food production by 2050; which is the great challenge to scientific communities.
The growth in agricultural production can be largely attributed to the use of quality inputs, including seeds. Seed is the harbinger of new life, and it is the first and most vital link in the food chain. The seed is a carrier of technologies and other inputs contingent upon quality seeds. Good quality seed acts as a catalyst for realizing the potential of all other agricultural inputs like fertilizers, irrigation water, plant protection measures and production technologies. The response of all these inputs depends on quality of seed to a large extent. The direct contribution of quality seed alone to the total production is about 12 to 15 percent depending upon crop, and can be further raised with use of improved varieties and their quality seeds up to 25 to 30 percent. Though India constitutes the fifth largest seed market, but the share of Indian seed industry in the global seed production is less than five percent. Indian agriculture is highly diverse with almost all major globally recognised agro-climatic and agro ecological systems represented in the country.
The story of Western Agri Seeds Ltd begins with town Junagadh, which is famous for Asiatic lions and mango ‘Kesar’, and holly land ‘Ramvadi’ of famous sant ‘Param Pujya Pragdas Bapa’.
Mr. N.P.Patel, Managing Director of the company, after completion of graduation in agriculture in 1977 joined pesticide company ‘Pesticides India Ltd’, then after he joined multinational pesticides company ‘Union Carbide India Ltd’ in 1978, but being a son of soil, he thought that he must work for welfare of farming communities and agricultural development in the country. He resigned from multinational company, and started entrepreneurship in seed business at Junagadh, with establishment of ‘N.P.Seeds Corporation’ in the year 1983. As a expansion of seed business, he established new seed company “WESTERN AGRI SEEDS LTD” at Gandhinagar (Gujarat) in the year 1994. The company’s motto is ‘MORE FOR ALL’.