Will Agriculture Department act against licensed vendors?

Sales of poor-quality seeds

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The farmers in Assam are in double trouble: they cannot show seeds in their nursery beds due to the prolonged dry spell, and the seeds they have shown have yielded only chaff, not grains. The sales of poor quality seeds have rocked the state agriculture department, which has taken the matter seriously.

The farmers and growers of the state have to bear the brunt of the poor quality seeds glutting the markets. In most of the cases, the farmers have shown seeds of cucumber, lady's finger, paddy, etc. However, as often as not, the plants show vegetative growth without bearing seeds or yield.

According to a few victim farmers, they procure certified seeds from licensed vendors as they have no knowledge of seed quality. After showing the seeds, after a month, the plants show vegetative growth only but do not yield. "We invest our hard-earned money, besides labour and time that go to waste," one of the farmers said. He added, "In such cases, the government doesn't compensate for the losses we suffer."

According to sources, both the Directorate of Agriculture and the district agriculture offices issue licenses to vendors for selling certified seeds. The question that arises is: when the licensed vendors sell poor-quality seeds, does the department hold them accountable?

In the recent past, based on complaints from farmers, officials of the Agriculture Department went to the field and conducted a survey in certain areas.

According to sources, the Agriculture Department has now taken the matter seriously. The department has taken a tough stand to investigate the complaints seriously, and if it finds any vendors on the wrong foot, it may cancel the erring vendors' licenses.

According to sources, so long as the department cannot provide quality and certified seeds to the farmers in time, unscrupulous vendors will continue to take advantage of the gaps in the system to sell poor-quality seeds.

The department is also trying to provide succour to the farmers who have been bearing the drought-like situation in the state due to climate change.

A few days ago, the agriculture and irrigation departments got into a huddle and decided to take up such problems jointly. However, nothing concrete is visible in the field towards that end. According to sources, if the government is to irrigate lands based on the demands of the farmers, it needs huge funds, besides a well-chalked-out irrigation policy.

 Also Read: Life and agriculture in danger due to deepening water crisis (sentinelassam.com)

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