Soyabean crisis in Vid too, over 1k farmers received ‘defective’ seeds

NAGPUR: Cases of soyabean seeds failing to germinate have been reported from Vidarbha also. This has come as a blow for farmers of the region who were banking on soyabean crop after last year’s losses in cotton.
The state’s agriculture department has received more than 1,000 complaints from farmers in Vidarbha about ‘defective’ soyabean seeds. Officials admitted that the high number of complaints related to seeds of a single crop are a matter of concern.
Earlier, the problem was seen in other parts of the state too and the state’s agriculture minister said that action will be taken if seeds were found substandard.
Soyabean seeds are marketed by Mahabeej, a state government corporation, apart from private industry. Mahabeej seeds are made available at subsidized rates. But this year the subsidy was not released.
Majority of the cases have been found in Amravati division which covers western Vidarbha. A senior official in the agriculture department said that more than 900 complaints have been filed alleging sale of defective seeds by the companies, including Mahabeej.
According to a source, the number of complaints in Nagpur division are low at 150 because the area under soybean too is less as compared to Amravati division. “The companies are being asked to replace the seeds or else they will be dragged to the consumer court,” said an official.
Investigations are under way at tehsil level. However, gap in rains too affects germination of soyabean seeds. “Despite advisory not to sow seeds until it rains more than 75mm, a number of farmers went ahead with sowing. They were banking on the cyclonic rains of June 3 and now there has been a long gap after that,” said a source in the department.
Akola is the worst-affected district with more than 10% of rain deficit so far. Even as Amravati division has received over 100% of average rains, the downpour has been scattered. Large areas have been left dry, the source said.
Vallabh Deshmukh, a director of Mahabeej, accepted that the quality has been affected because it rained when the last year’s soyabean crop was harvested. “This damaged the seeds that are extracted for next season’s sowing. Mahabeej reduced its production to 2.5 lakh seeds this season as half of the stock had to be rejected due to poor quality,” he said.
“Yet, only 30% of Mahabeej’s seeds are defective as against 70% of the private sector. The corporation is planning to replace the seeds. But in some areas the seeds haven’t germinated due to lack of rains,” he said.
Farmers are blaming the seed quality for the situation. Mukesh Hande, from Rajurwadi village of Yavatmal, said, “From five acres last year, I reduced cotton area to three acres keeping rest for soyabean. It rained when sowing was done and I was hoping for them to germinate in four days.” Hande plans to lodge a complaint with the department.
In Isoli village of Buldhana, Mobin Shaikh said, “Farmers in almost entire village are in losses due to the defective seeds. They may all have to take up sowing again.”