Telangana govt defaults on payment of seed subsidy, farmers angry

Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has defaulted on the payment of subsidy amount to vegetable seed companies. This, experts claim, could adversely affect vegetable production in the ongoing Rabi season.

The government owes Rs 12 crore to seed companies for the last one year. Due to this, the seed companies have stopped the sale of subsidised vegetable seeds to farmers.

The government has been offering subsidised seeds to farmers with the financial assistance of the Centre to encourage vegetable production. A part of the subsidy is being borne by the state.

With recent good rains, there is a huge demand from farmers for vegetable seeds in the Rabi across the state. However, due to the default by the government, seed vendors are demanding the entire price from farmers.

This led to protests from farmers, who already launched agitation programmes in districts, demanding subsidised seeds.

Agriculture officials brought to the notice of the government that if the issue was not resolved immediately, the state would stare at the shortage of vegetables in coming months. The Rabi crops are important for ensuring adequate vegetable supplies during the summer season.

Vegetable crops over an extent of 20,000 acres were already damaged due to the recent heavy rains. The state has not received around '35 crore, which is due from the Centre for subsidy, as it had failed to submit proposals  so far.

Agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said, “The issue has come to our notice. Orders are being issued to all seed companies to supply subsidised seeds without any delay. We will cear all the arrears soon.”