Spurious cotton seeds: BG-III cotton leaves sent for DNA test to confirm

Pedda Kanjarla: On the wake of uproar from the farmers who are panicked over the 200 acres of cultivation of spurious cotton seeds sold by an unauthourised dealer at Pedda Kanjarla village, Patancheru Mandal Agriculture Officer P Usha along with ADA Task Force G Vidyasagar sent the cotton seeds from the crop which was affected by the spray of herbicide in 4 acres of victim farmer Yadaiah to confirm whether the seeds were of Boll Guard- I or BG-II or BG-III variety.

The AO said the BG-I, BG-II was permitted cotton seeds and was being marketed, sold and cultivated by the farmers. But the BG-III variety was prohibited by the government and was not yet permitted to be sold and usage. The farmers have been accusing that Buchi Reddy, who was booked on July 21 under cheating and criminal Act for selling the seeds illegally without authoirisation, sold them the banned BG-III seeds by making them believe the crop would give huge amounts of yield. 

On the complaint by nearly 60 farmers in the village who are now panicked about their crop in more than 200 acres about the yield. Concerning the farmer’s complaint, we collected the samples of cotton leaves from the affected field and sent them to the lab for DNA test to find whether it is of BG-III variety, said the Agriculture Officer. There will be actions based on the reports of the test.