Firm to compensate farmers for losses due to paddy seed mixing
By Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Farmers from Kapurthala, who had sown the SR 110 variety of paddy, have been suffering losses.
The Tribune had recently highlighted that one of the farmer Gurnoor Singh from Nawanpind Gatewal village in Kapurthala, who had cultivated paddy on 70 acres, started noticing that while the grains were still in panicle initiation state in some parts of the field, the grains almost got matured (milk stage) in the remaining area.
This alerted him and soon he got to know that many other farmers were experiencing the same problem. They all fear major losses now as it will affect the yield and quality of the crop. On checking, the Agriculture Department found mixing of seeds of an unknown short duration variety with the one that was sown by the farmers. The department has also cancelled the licence of the seed store owner and sent a show-cause notice to the company that manufactured this variety.
Today, the Punjab Kisan Union (Baghi) that was raising the issue with the authorities met the Director Agriculture in Chandigarh. Gurdeep Singh, general secretary, said the company that had produced the variety would give compensation to the farmers who have suffered losses. “We met the Director and he assured us that that the company is ready to pay the amount to the farmers,” said Gurdeep.
The problem has been faced by some farmers in the Gurdaspur area also. The Chief Agriculture Officer, Gurdaspur, had earlier said farmers had complained of this problem.
Many farmers from Nawanpind Gatewal, Mithra, Chotta Boolpur, Dham and a few other villages from Kapurthala had sown a long duration variety (SR 110) on over 800 acres. The seeds had been bought from a local store. But they were shocked to see a difference in the growth of paddy plants in the same field. This variety is not recommended by PAU, said Agriculture Department officials.
The farmers approached the Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Kapurthala, after which a five-member committee was constituted.
Balbir Chand, CAO, Kapurthala, said: “On checking, it was found that there was mixing of seeds. I have cancelled the licence of the seed store owner and have also sent show-cause notice to the company, which has produced SR 110. We are taking up the matter seriously. Now I will be making teams to do crop cutting experiments to assess the actual loss.”
Kuldeep Singh from Nawanpind Gatewal, who sowed the seed on 14 acres, had said: “The grains, which have got matured, will shed soon and others will take some days to mature. We will suffer losses.”
This article has been republished from The Tribune.