Pd Act: Spurious seeds: 42 PD Act cases booked in 2022 in Telangana | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has recently announced on the floor of the House that 42 Preventive Detention (PD) Act cases were booked against those selling spurious seeds in the previous year. He also warned seed traders from selling spurious seeds.
A quick scan reveals that in 2022, 276 cases were booked under the Seed Act 1966 in Telangana against the sale of spurious seeds. The threat of spurious seeds primarily affects cotton and chilli crops and Telangana has begun filing cases under the PD Act because many spurious seed sellers were repeat offenders.

The Seed Act only punishes violators with a fine of 500, but the crop damage, caused by the use of spurious seeds, is severe. And, an amendment, prescribing severe action, to the Act is pending in Parliament.
According to officials, the damage is so severe that using spurious seed reduces cotton productivity per acre to three quintals, down from 12 or 13 quintals. “Most farmers suffer the damage but don’t complain. Stern action can be taken under the PD Act. However, even in these cases, booked over a three-year period, many cases could not be proven and 13 to 14 sellers were sentenced,” sources said.
State Kisan cell president K Anvesh Reddy said: “Farmers should be given compensation in case they were sold spurious seeds and the crop is damaged. And, cases should be booked against companies, but not suppliers.”
Spurious seeds are those produced by companies that have not completed the required four stages of research and development. According to the Seed Act, all companies must obtain marketing licences to sell and these licenses must specifically mention the brand’s varieties.
R&D stages include breeding, foundation, certification, and the fourth and final one, truthful label. Companies that have followed these steps for two or three years sell a variety of seeds with accurate labelling.
The Seed Act requires sellers to obtain a marketing licence for each variety, but they adopt shortcuts offering low-quality seeds. Telangana has approximately 1,000 seed marketing licensees and a few dozen companies that were actively engaged in R&D.
The majority of spurious seeds were reportedly imported into the state from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu (cotton), Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh (chilli).