Kothagudem : Unauthorised chilli seeds worth Rs 30 lakh seized

Kothagudem : Agriculture and police officials have seized unauthorised chilli seeds worth about Rs 30.24 lakh at Sujatha Nagar in the district on Tuesday.

According to sources, a farmer of Enkoor in Khammam district bought seeds at Sujatha Nagar and later came to know that the seeds he bought were unlicensed and lodged a complaint with the local police.

Acting on his complaint, Enkoor police alerted agriculture officials in Sujatha Nagar mandal and conducted a raid along with mandal agriculture officer G Narmada and VM Banjar SI T Nagaraju at Sai Lakshmi Agencies on Tuesday.

They found out that Star Bindhu variety chilli seeds manufactured by Dwaraka Seeds Private Limited stocked in the shop without valid permission. About 2,016 seeds packets each worth Rs 1,500 were seized, agriculture officer Narmada informed.

Meanwhile, Khammam Rural ACP Venkat Reddy along with agriculture officer V Nageshwar Rao inspected Sri Lakshmi Balaji Seeds at Arempula village and Sri Paravati Traders at Arekodu village in Khammam rural mandal on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, the ACP said they laid special focus to curb sale of spurious seeds as the State government wants no farmer to suffer loss because of fake seeds.

PD Act would be invoked against those, who sells fake seeds, besides booking criminal cases against them, he warned. The ACP urged farmers to obtain bills for the seeds they purchased from seed shops.