HYDERABAD: The sale of banned Herbicide-tolerant (HT) cotton seeds is still prevalent in Telangana, as per information provided by the Central ministry. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, said that although sale of pesticides with any other banned chemicals has not been reported from states, HT cotton seeds are being sold in cotton-growing states, including, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana.
As per the information furnished by the Telangana government, sporadic cases of sale of HT cotton seeds has been recorded. “However, because of close monitoring and effective seed control mechanism adopted by the State, the sale of HT seeds has reduced considerably in the last year,” said Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
In 2019, out of 589 samples of cotton seeds tested, 78 were found to be HT positive in Telangana. In 2018, the cases of HT positive samples was much higher, with 119 out of 694 samples found tolerant to herbicides. In 2017, 368 samples were tested of which 81 were HT positive.
Sixty-seven cases of sale of the banned seed were booked in the State and 56 were arrested. Administrative action was also taken with respect to 21 seed licenses, and 3,840 quintals of seeds worth `9.87 crore was seized. “In Telangana, state-level and district-level statutory committees have been formed for ensuring prompt action and the State government has imposed restrictions on usage of Glyphosate,” Tomar added.