Spurious seeds ruin maize farmers
Spurious seeds have forced the hundreds of maize farmers to land into debts. The farmers in Salur area have sown seeds purchased from local dealers only to get a bitter result.
- New seeds were sown in 1,800 acres in Makkuva, Pachipenta and Salur mandals
- The size of corn is smaller and some corn does not have seeds
- Loss for farmers is pegged at Rs 20,000 per acre
Salur (Vizianagaram): Spurious seeds have forced the hundreds of maize farmers to land into debts. The farmers in Salur area have sown seeds purchased from local dealers only to get a bitter result. The corn was small and some do not even have seeds. An estimated Rs 20,000 per acre was spent to cultivate the crop and not only the crop year was lost but also the investment.
Representatives of a private firm toured the areas of Tonam, Marupalli, Mamidipalli, Makkuva villages in Makkuva, Pachipenta and Salur mandals and convinced the farmers to sow their M M-2 brand seeds. The even assured farmers that they buy back their produce after harvest.
Usually, farmers used to sow a different variety seed and used to get around four tones of produce. In turn they used to sell the produce at Rs 17,000 per tonne. However, the representatives of the new company told that their seeds will give more yield and around 500 farmers in 25 villages have sown the new variety of seed in 1,800 acres in anticipation of good yield.
As time passed by they found that the crop is not up to the expectation and even the size of corn is smaller. The owners of the land lost around Rs 20,000 per acre. The tenant farmers have faced more loss as they need to pay the lease amount to the owner of the land. Some farmers didn’t cut the crop as they feel it would be no use for them.
Srinivasa Rao, a farmer who lost his crop and investment in two acres in Makkuva said, “We believed the words of the representatives of the company and sowed the seeds but the produce is very less. The lack of vigilance by the agriculture department staff is main reason for our losses. They should conduct raids on seeds shops in this area and control those spurious seeds.”
Speaking to The Hans India joint director of agriculture Leelavathi said that they would be deputing officers to visit the farmers. “We will go for scientific inquiry and take action against the company to ensure that they pay compensation to farmers,” she asserted.
Koppara Gandhi
