HYDERABAD: Nalgonda police, on Friday, busted an interstate spurious seed racket and seized huge stocks of cotton, paddy, maize, and vegetable seeds worth Rs 6 crore. Had the recovered seeds made their way into the market, they could have adversely affected around 40,000 acres of crops and more than 1 lakh farmers across Telangana, said IG West Zone Stephen Ravindra.
AV Ranganath, Nalgonda Superintendent of Police, said that though they were cracking down on spurious seed rackets, shortage of labs that test the seed quality was adding to the woes of farmers. “Spurious seeds are usually identified when farmers report them, dealers sell them off at lucrative prices or the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) number is missing. In some cases, the suppliers print random numbers on the packets,” he said.
The suppliers also manipulate the market by providing false Genetical Purity, Physical Purity, Germination Standards to the seeds. The QR codes printed on the packets are also well designed; it takes the user directly to the manufacturer’s website. “For the processing, packing amd marketing, the methods adapted by the suppliers are properly planned and executed.”the police said.