Karnataka - Hassan   

Protest against inferior seed potato

HASSAN: Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Hagoo Hasiru Sene activists led by district leader Kanagal Murthy staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Tuesday in protest against what they termed the poor quality of seed potato which did not germinate after sowing. It instead became rotten, they alleged.

They protesters squatted on the floor with samples of rotten seed potato taken from the soil and demanded that traders be prevented from cheating farmers.

Addressing presspersons, Mr. Murthy said potato was one of the commercial crops grown particularly in Hassan, Belgaum, Chikballapur, Dharwad and Kolar districts, and every year farmers purchased seeds worth almost Rs. 400 crore. These districts also produced around Rs. 3,000 crore worth potatoes, he added.

Foundation seeds F1, F2, F3 and F4 of the Kufhri Jyothi and Chandramukhi varieties are produced in Jallandar, Punjab which is suitable to the weather of these districts.

But, the present seeds supplied to Hassan district are of the F6, F7 and F8 varieties that are not suitable for sowing. Mr. Murthy said 12 lakh bags (each bag contains 50 kg) of seed potato were kept in nine cold storages in Hassan of which two-and-a-half lakh bags were not foundation seeds but that of table potato. This table potato had been purchased from Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh at a cheaper rate of Rs. 300 a 50 kg bag and was sold as foundation seeds. Hence it did not germinate, he said and added that it had also been affected by pest.

The activists demanded that the Government request experts from the Potato Research Centre in Kufhri Jyothi in Simla to visit Hassan and test the foundation seeds preserved in the cold storages. Only after certification by them should it be sold to farmers, they said.

Mr. Murthy recalled that Pepsico, Indian Tobacco Company and Namadhari Companies that supplied foundation seeds to farmers last year in Hassan had not purchased the harvested crop from the district.

When contacted, zilla panchayat chief executive officer Shankaranarayana said potato meant for sowing, which was kept in cold storage, should be dried in the open for at least 15 days. Then only would it germinate.

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