27/09/2007 (Business Times) - NEW DELHI: National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) plans to double the turnover of seed business in 2007 after entering the sector last year.

“We aim to take seed business turnover to about Rs 80-100 crore from the current level of Rs 50 crore,” Nafed managing director Alok Ranjan said on the sidelines of the cooperative’s annual general meeting (AGM) here on Tuesday.

He added Nafed has signed MoUs with state governments of Tamil Nadu and Orissa to produce seeds through contract farming. In Tamil Nadu, the cooperative would develop groundnut and a local pulse variety in 50 villages while in Orissa it would undertake groundnut and sesame cultivation through contract farming in 20 villages, he indicated.

Nafed last year diversified into seeds and fertiliser sectors sensing the mood in the market.