Spurious seed marketing goes on unchecked; farmers unaware

Government supply, only one –third of total requirement

Srikakulam: Spurious paddy seed marketing is un-checked in the district. Farmers have started procurement of paddy seed for the coming kharif season. According to agriculture department planning, paddy is being cultivated in an extent of 5.26 lakh acres in the district during kharif season and 1.59 crore kgs of seed is required for the extent.

But government has supplied only one-third quantity of seed from it through AP Seed Development Corporation. ‘For coming kharif season we are planning to supply 58,000 quintals of paddy seed and now 15,000 quintals of seed is available in the district’ joint director for agriculture, G. Rama Rao told The Hans India.

For remaining seed, farmers are depending on private dealers. To cash on the situation dealers are enhancing the price Rs 20 per kg which is higher than government supply rate. ‘According to available enactments over seed supply there is no regulation on cost of the seed and private seed companies can sell their products at the rate fixed by them basing on quality’ Assistant Director (AD) of agriculture, Ronanki Ravi Prakash explained to The Hans India.

Normally private dealers in coastal AP are procuring paddy seed from Telangana districts like Warangal, Karimnagar and other districts. The dealers are allegedly mixing the rabi crop products in the seed bags and marketing here at high price. But farmers noticed it only after sowing it in the lands as they are unable to identify fake seed at the time of purchasing. Due to lack of proper regulating mechanism over seed marketing private dealers are exploiting farmers.

‘Every year we are collecting about 240 seed samples from various companies. During last year we collected 240 samples and booked three cases on sub-standard seed supply companies’ Assistant Director (AD) for quality control, Kutikuppala Krishna Rao told The Hans India.