Minister Niranjan Reddy warns of action against illegal seed traders

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy on Thursday warned those involved in illegal and spurious seeds manufacturing, sale and distribution in the State.

In a press release here, he said apart from the vigilance teams, the State government had formed four task force teams to take on the illegal activity playing havoc with the lives of the farmers.

Saying that cotton farmers are mainly becoming victims of the illegal seed business, he said a special watch has been mounted at the seed processing units, warehouses and unapproved warehouses across the State.

The seed inspectors were directed to continuously inspect the records of the seed manufacturers, seed sellers and warehouses and test the quality of the seeds.

An official of the rank of the Assistant Director was given powers to file cases against those responsible if the laboratory tests proved that the seeds were of substandard quality. He felt that invoking the PD act against the erring merchants would act as a deterrent.

He said that the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee did not approve the herbicide-tolerant cotton (Ht. Cotton). Hence, cultivation, sale and purchase of Ht.cotton is an offence.

It was also decided to create awareness among the farmers on the losses of cultivating the Ht. cotton. So far nine cases have been filed and 17 persons have been arrested and six licences have been suspended, he said.