Hyderabad: Nearly Rs 6,012.72 crore has been deposited into the bank accounts of more than 57.61 lakh farmers in the State towards the investment support under Rythu Bandhu scheme as on Monday.
Farmers have already commenced the preparations for the Vaanakalam crop season during which about 1.4 crore acres are likely to be cultivated. They have already commenced sowing seeds in some areas which already have irrigation facility in the State.
In a release, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said the Task Force teams comprising the officials from police, revenue and agriculture departments were acting tough against the manufacturers and marketers of the spurious seeds. He said with the State government arrested about 446 persons under 311 cases for selling spurious seeds to gullible farmers. He said majority of the spurious seeds were for sowing Mirchi and cotton crops. The licenses of dealers who are selling illegal seeds were also being suspended.
As on Monday, the Task Force teams have seized over 949 quintals of cotton seedlings worth Rs 6.18 crore so far. Efforts are being made to check the quality of the seed samples in the laboratories.
“We will come up with an action plan and keep tabs on the seed manufacturing companies, processing units and others to prevent sale of spurious seeds from February next year,” he added.
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