NAGARKURNOOL:Nagarkurnool farmers are a worried lot with dealers selling all kinds of pesticides illegally in the district. Moreover, most of the dealers involved in this illegal trade of pesticides do not even possess the basic knowledge regarding what kind of pesticide should be sold for which particular crop.As a result, many farmers have been buying the pesticides suggested by the illiterate sellers and incurring heavy losses as the pesticides are not helping the farmers in doing away with the pests.
Sellers obtain licenses illegally
The state government had issued orders prescribing specific qualifications for appointment of dealers last year. In the order, the government said a person with B.Sc in Agriculture or normal B.Sc alone is eligible to become a licensed dealer of pesticides. However, many sellers have been colluding with agriculture officials and obtaining licences in illegally. According to the official statistics of the agriculture department, the district has a total of 300 dealers are without prescribed qualifications.
District agriculture officer B Singa Reddy told Express that they are going to issue notices to all the illegal dealers very soon.
“We are insisting on production of degree certificates to all those who approach us for renewal. If the dealers express their inability to provide certificates, we are giving them two years time for their production. If the dealers are still not able to produce the certificate, then we are asking them to employ people with B.Sc qualification,” he said.