The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Raghuveera warns seed companies

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Raghuveera warns seed companies

Special Correspondent

Minister asks officials to ensure adequate supply for kharif

HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy on Monday cautioned seed companies of stringent action if they try to exploit unsuspecting farmers approaching them for seeds during the ensuing kharif season.

The Minister warned the officials to be on alert and ensure that there were no complaints on short supply of seed or their quality failing which appropriate action would be initiated against them.

Farmers, on their part, were advised to purchase certified seed and obtain bill of every purchase so that they could be compensated in case of losses incurred because of the spurious seed.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Reddy attributed the lack of coordination among the departments concerned and haste on the part of the officials concerned that resulted in lathi-charge on farmers in Adilabad on Sunday.

Probe

Senior officials had been asked to probe into the issue and action would be initiated against the erring officials.

In view of this, the Government had initiated steps to ensure that farmers did not face shortage of seeds and arrangements had been made to position seed to cater to the requirements in over 38 lakh acres while the actual area under cultivation was likely to be around 25 lakh acres.

12.35 lakh quintals

The Government had positioned 12.35 lakh quintals of seeds for crops like groundnut, soybean, maize and sunflower, against the nine-lakh quintals of the previous year, with an estimated subsidy of Rs. 162 crores.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh