Karimnagar farmers worried as spurious seeds threaten Vanakalam crop
Attracted by the State government’s promise of a Rs 500 bonus to fine variety paddy from this season, a number of farmers had sowed the fine variety paddy.
Karimnagar: Paddy farmers in the district are a worried lot since there was no growth in a particular variety of paddy seed. Though other variety seeds are growing normally, the Jai Shri Ram seed supplied by a Mumbai-based seed company, Yashodha Hybrid Seeds Private Limited, has not grown at all.
The situation prevails more in Karimnagar rural mandal, where the particular variety of seed was sowed in more than 650 acres. The situation has been reported in Narayanraopalli of Sultanabad mandal of Peddapalli district, where the same company’s seed was sowed in 200 acres.
The crop sowed in the beginning of the Vanakalam season has already been damaged and the future of the remaining crop would be known in the coming days. Knowing about the situation, agriculture officials examined the crop by visiting fields and informed the matter to the company besides sending seed samples to the Polasa Agriculture Research Centre in Jagtial for testing. It is learnt that farmers detained company representatives when they visited Narayanraopalli to inspect the fields a few days ago.
Attracted by the State government’s promise of a Rs 500 bonus to fine variety paddy from this season, a number of farmers had sowed the fine variety paddy. This led to a spurt in the acreage of fine variety paddy, which used to be below one lakh acres in the erstwhile Karimnagar district, to 3.76 lakh acres now. As a result, the cultivation area of paddy too went up to 9.82 lakh acres from 9.60 lakh acres last year.
Taking advantage of this, a number of seed companies had publicised and sold their seeds in the district. Farmers from Gopalpur, Chamanapalli, Cherlabuthkur, Erukulla and other villages of Karimnagar rural mandal had purchased paddy seeds of the Mumbai firm. Though officials estimated the particular kind of crop damage in 18 acres in the mandal, the affected acreage is much higher, farmers say.
Speaking to Telangana Today, a farmer from Gopalpur, Rajamallaiah said the entire fine variety crop in the mandal would be damaged since the seed appeared to be spurious. Almost all farmers had purchased the seed from the same firm, he said, adding officials, who should certify the seed only after testing it in the laboratory, had apparently failed to do so.
A farmer from Narayanraopalli, J Sathish Reddy said they purchased the Yashoda company’s seeds from its dealers Hanuman Fertilizers and Umamaheshwara fertilizers in Karimnagar. A few days ago, company representatives inspected the damaged crop in village and promised to provide compensation.
District Agriculture Officer P Mahesh said after receiving complaints from farmers, they wrote to the Polasa Agriculture Research Centre scientists besides informing the matter to company authorities. A team of scientists from the research centre would examine the crop on Wednesday, he said, adding that they would take further steps based on the report given by the scientists. Company representatives, who are camping in the district, were also inspecting the crop, he said.
