Telangana Agriculture Minister warns suppliers against spurious seeds

Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswar Rao on Tuesday made it clear to seed companies that they would be liable for crop losses if the seed supplied by them was found to be spurious and substandard in quality and had adverse impact on crop yields.

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao on Tuesday made it clear to seed companies that they would be liable for crop losses if the seed supplied by them was found to be spurious and substandard in quality and had adverse impact on crop yields.

He held a review on the implementation of the seed development programmes and seed supply for the Rabi season with officials of the departments concerned and representatives of seed companies at the Secretariat. In case of heavy crop losses caused to the farmers due to fake seeds, they owe the responsibility, he said.

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The seed companies should ensure that adequate compensation was paid to the farmers if their crop losses owed mainly to the seed- quality related issues. He also asked the seed companies to meet the seed requirement of the farmers according top priority to all those from the State.

He directed the officials to make adequate quantity of seed available for the farmers for Rabi season. The requirement of cotton and maize seed would be more this season, he hinted.

The seed left with the respective companies after meeting the requirement of the State, can be made available to the farmers in other States too. The government would take all steps for developing the State as a seed hub for meeting the seed requirement of the farmers in other States too.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Seed Certification agencies, Seed Development companies and scientists from the Agricultural University.