Farmers Beware! Counterfeit Seeds are on the Market, Procure Cotton Seeds from Authorized Seed Agencies only

Cotton is a very important crop of the Kharif season, especially in Northern and Western India. Cotton is the main pillar of the textile industry. This Kharif crop requires 6-8 months to mature.

The harvesting and sowing time of crops differ in different regions, depending on the climate conditions. Most of the farmers are depending on cotton crops used as cash crops because the production and MSP of the crop are good. 

The operations of sowing cotton seeds would usually commence in June. Farmers buy the seeds around the onset of the monsoon. But large quantities of spurious seeds have reportedly been smuggled by certain traders of the district from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. They were secretly stored in warehouses of the smugglers belonging to Bheemini, Kannepalli, and Nennal Mandals. 

The trade of spurious seeds is still blooming across the States even after surveillance and protest from farmers. It is learned that a notorious trader of Bheemini Mandal center is the main king behind this. 

He was allegedly smuggling the seeds for quite a long time considering the huge profits. He was stated to be bribing some authorities concerned to carry out the sale of spurious seeds. 

He is said to have recruited his agents in rural parts to sell the seeds in May to avoid detection. The main reason behind this is the high demand for at least 40 -50 lakh cotton seed packets per district, and government agencies are unable to provide the seeds. 

This situation leads to trapping our poor farmers by traders of counterfeit seeds. The practice is observed in Warangal, Adilabad, and other districts of Telangana state. Telangana Farmers' Association said that farmers will have to suffer heavy losses if the sale of counterfeit seeds is not restricted at the outset with extensive vigilance. 

Due to a lack of knowledge about seeds and the non-availability of good quality seeds, farmers end up using even spurious Bt seeds available to them in the local market.

Stay tuned with Krishi Jagran to know more about cotton varieties and hybrids of different states.