Seed touts corner chunk of cotton seed supply

HYDERABAD: Right across the state, cotton farmers are standing in serpentine queues at seed dealer outlets to get their hands on a packet or two of seeds of preferred varieties. Many of them arrive at the outlet armed with bedding and food to spend the night in queue. Seed stocks are in shortage, and the sowing season is rushing by. Taking advantage of the situation, touts are making a killing by selling seeds at almost double or triple the original price. Spurious seeds are flooding the market.According to an official estimate, cotton is likely to be sown in more than 20 lakh hectares this year, up from 15 lakh hectares last year and the state average of 13.51 lakh hectares. Farmers will need about 92 lakh packets of seeds weighing 450 gm each. However, the state government has been able to supply only 65 lakh packets of which only 30 per cent has reached farmers. The remaining stock has either been diverted to the black market or is still caught up in supply bottlenecks.Even as farmers struggle to get a packet of seeds, a blame game is on. While the dealers point to seed companies for creating an artificial shortage to push lesser known varieties in the market, the companies blame the production loss caused by untimely rains last year and also the government’s delay in fixing market prices. To top the farmers’ ire, opposition parties have launched agitations by the dozen.“Farmers are not ready to purchase seeds of other brands due to a blind belief that only seeds of the preferred brands can withstand heavy rains and yield bumper crops despite the fact that all seeds are equally effective.On the other hand, political parties are making an unnecessary issue of it despite knowing that the government is supplying adequate quantities of seeds,” said a senior official of the agriculture department.However, farmers claimed that the seeds of preferred brands are suitable for their soil and new varieties may not be. “We have been using the same brand of seed for years. I doubt if any other variety sold by Mahyco or Nuziveedu Seeds will suit our soil conditions,” says G Rajaiah, a farmer of Karimnagar district.Farmers sys dealers are demanding anywhere from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,700 per packet against the maximum retail price of Rs 850-Rs 930 stated on the packets. Interestingly, farmers of north Telangana districts are travelling all the way to Maharashtra to purchase cotton seeds. But they find that the situation is no different there.Agriculture minister C Damodara Rajanarasimha says the government cannot be blamed for the shortage of preferred varieties as just a couple of companies cannot supply the entire state requirement of 92 lakh seed packets.“Of 27 major varieties available in the state, farmers prefer only seven, mainly from major companies which do not have the capacity to meet the entire demand,” he says.