Telangana: Farmers want comprehensive seed policy to protect their interests

Urge Telangana government to create a fast-track system to punish fake seed sellers and to formulate strict laws to protect farmers from multinational companies

Khammam: Protection of farmers and environmental interests should be the main objective of the new seed law to be formulated by the Telangana government, asserted leaders of several farmer associations.

A consultative meeting on draft Seed Bill was held here on Saturday where Telangana Seed Corporation Chairman Avinash Reddy, its members, district officials, seed dealers and leaders of farmers associations expressed their views.

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Due to the absence of a comprehensive seed law for many years, crops on lakhs of acres have been damaged owing to fake seeds and farmers suffered huge losses. A comprehensive seed law should be formulated to control fake seeds and protect farmers’ interests, many speakers opined.

Telangana Rythu Sangham district secretary Bonthu Rambabu said that once farmers produced seeds from their crops and relied on government seeds until 1990. With the entry of multinational companies after 1991, the entire seed production went into corporate hands and farmers lost their chance to get compensation if they suffered losses.

Telangana was known to be a seed bank in the country but there was no protection for farmers. As crops were grown in 1.25 crore acres in Telangana, 20 lakh quintals of seeds were required. Seed manufacturing and production in the State was beyond the needs of Telangana, he said.

As for action against fake seed sellers, he said 991 cases of fake seeds had been registered in the last ten years, but the number of sellers booked under the PD Act was not known. In addition to food crops, commercial crops and crops under the purview of Horticulture Department should be included in the comprehensive seed policy. The Telangana government should create a fast-track system to punish fake seed sellers and to formulate strict laws to protect farmers from multinational companies, he added.