Lukewarm response for govt supply of seeds

Srikakulam: There has been a poor response to the supply of paddy seed through Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBK) in the district during current kharif season. The state government is supplying paddy seed at RBKs by procuring it through the AP Seeds Development Corporation (APSDC) and agriculture department. As per guidelines, farmers have to register their details to get seeds from the RBKs located in their village panchayats. But most of the farmers are not showing interest to enrol their names as they are interested to purchase seed from private dealers even though the government is providing subsidy. The main reason for this reluctance is lack of confidence in quality of seed provided through RBKs. They feel that seed supplied by the government is vulnerable to pest attacks and also do give low yields.

Farmers are saying that seed varieties which are available with private dealers are good in quality, resistant to pest attacks and expected to give 25 per cent higher yields than the government-supplied seeds.

The government is supplying seed varieties like MTU 7029 (Swarna), MTU 1061 (Indra), 1064 (Amara), Srikakulam Sannalu. The RBKs are providing seed with a subsidy of Rs 300 on each bag of 30 kg to farmers on the total price as Rs 1,050. But the farmers are willing to pay amount and purchase the seed from private dealers.

Joint director of agriculture K Sreedhar said registration for seeds had started at RBKs and they are going to supply seeds to farmers based on the demand from the farmers.