ADILABAD: Shockingly, it is found that some seed companies which have approval from the government only to produce tomato seeds have also been into manufacturing cotton seeds and selling them without any hurdle for years.
Old Adilabad district has become a hub for illegal stocks of cotton seeds and also spurious cotton seeds. Police teams are now unearthing these illegal stocks and seizing spurious seeds every day.
One Tierra seed company is found supplying cotton seeds with fake approval to agencies which are in turn passing them on to gullible farmers. The agriculture department issued orders banning the company from supplying cotton seeds. There are said to be so many such companies thriving with official nexus. If the rains are intensified by joint teams of police and
agriculture officers, it would yield huge illegal stocks as well as spurious cotton seeds, say observers.
Farmers are losing heavily as fake seeds are not germinating. This came to light when Utnoor DSP Uday Reddy raided three fertilisers and pesticide shops in Ichoda and Neredigonda. He said Tierra has permission only for tomato seeds but it is also supplying cotton seeds without any approval.
Fertilisers and pesticide traders are colluding with them. Police seized cotton seeds worth Rs 19 lakh from five shops in Ichoda circle. They also sealed Algurwar and Nikhil fertilizers shops in Adilabad town on June 10. The police said Nikhil Fertilisers owner took an undertaking from farmers that he would not be held responsible if there was no germination of seeds or any loss. Algurwar owner was selling spurious cotton seeds by fixing their own prices and tampering with markers on the seed bags and lot numbers.
Adilabad police led by DSP Venkateshwarlu seized illegal cotton seeds worth of Rs 1.5 lakh in Kuchulapur village in Talamadugu Mandal. Rural CI Purushotham Chary and SI Divya took part in the raid in Kuchulapur on Friday.
