Agri officials asked to curb sale of counterfeit paddy seed

By Karam Prakash

Fearing sale of counterfeit seeds of the government-recommended PR-126 paddy variety — a short-duration variety that saves water, the department of agriculture has already ordered the chief agriculture officers (CAOs) to take proactive steps in this regard. The CAOs are learnt to have been asked to conduct raids on the premises of private seed dealers, distributors and producers so as to nip the sale of duplicate seeds.

Besides, the department has warned of strict action if any of its officers is found conniving with private seed operators. The officers have been asked to send samples of suspicious seeds to Punjab Agricultural University to check genetic purity.

The sowing process for both direct seeded rice (DSR) and seedlings for transplantation has already started in the state. “To ensure farmers get good quality PR-126 seeds, we have asked the officers to raid seed distributors, dealers and producers. Enough seed is available with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) that can be easily purchased from government sale points, including Krishi Vigyan Kendras,” said Jaswant Singh, director, department of agriculture.

The orders to conduct raids came after a meeting last week that was held among the PAU vice-chancellor, members of the All-India Rice Millers’ Association and a team of rice scientists from the PAU, Ludhiana. In the meeting, Tarsem Lal Saini, president of the All India Rice Millers’ Association, had expressed apprehensions about the widespread sale of counterfeit seeds and urged the department of agriculture and farmers welfare to implement stringent measures to curb such a practice.

This year, the Punjab government, led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, has been appealing to the farmers to adopt the short-duration paddy variety (PR-126) to save groundwater. The state government has officially banned the sale of long-duration paddy variety (PUSA-44) this month. The water guzzling PUSA-44 variety was a favourite among farmers for its higher yield.

PAU Vice-Chancellor SS Gosal said, “We have received some complaints regarding sale of counterfeit PR-126 seeds. The agriculture department has collected some samples of suspicious seeds, which will be tested at the PAU.”

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times.