Banned weedicide smuggled into Mancherial from Maharashtra

According to sources, the traders and middlemen were buying the weedicide for Rs.500 per litre and selling it to farmers at double that price.

Mancherial: Traders and middlemen are exploring new ways to smuggle the banned weedicide Glyphosate produced by manufacturers of prohibited Herbicide Tolerant (HT) cotton seeds even as police step up vigilance against smuggling of the toxic chemical.

The traders and middlemen are reportedly placing orders online with the manufacturers to procure the hazardous chemical at their doorsteps in order to evade cops. Some of them are allegedly importing it by vehicles that transport mangoes and other agricultural produce to Nagpur of the neighboring state.

---

They are making fast bucks by targeting gullible farmers by selling the chemical at higher prices. According to sources, the traders and middlemen were buying the weedicide for Rs.500 per litre and selling it to farmers at double that price.

They were allegedly storing it in secret hideouts before sending to various mandals of the district. Large quantity of the chemical is learned to have been sent to Chennur, Bheemini, Nennal, Vemanapalli, Kotapalli and Thandur mandals. Cotton growers are showing interest to buy the weedicide following the shortage of farm laborers and to cut down the cost charged for removing the waste plants in the cotton crop.

The weedicide is said to cause cancer and other respiratory diseases apart from causing a decline in the fertility of the soil. According to Agriculture officials, cotton crop is raised in about 1.75 lakh acres per annum in the district.

On an average, around 30 cases have been booked against smugglers of spurious seeds every year from 2019 to 2022. Around 5,000 kilograms of the spurious cotton seeds are seized in the district every year.

Preventive Detention (PD) cases are being invoked against habitual traders, officials said.

Ramagundam Commissioner of Police M Srinivasulu said special focus would be laid on the menace. He advised farmers to approach the local police if anyone was found to be selling the weedicide.

He warned that stringent action would be taken against those who smuggle the banned chemical.