Agri dept seizes expired hybrid seeds worth Rs 6L

Rajkot: The agriculture department and quality control department of the Gir Somnath district administration seized a cache of 20 kg expired hybid seeds worth Rs 5.50 lakh on Monday and suspended the sale of 12.48 quintal of expired seeds worth Rs 10.46 lakh.
“After we received the complaints of seeds that had crossed their expiry date being sold, we carried out inspections at 47 traders who had licenses issued by the government,” said J M Chotalia, taluka agriculture officer.
“That apart we had also received complaints of traders selling ‘Pink Guard’ and ‘Weed Guard’ seeds which have not been authorized to be sold by the government,” said Paresh Goswami, another taluka agriculture officer.
Goswami urged the farmers to approach the district deputy agriculture officer and other officers of the agriculture department in their villages and talukas, if they came across such illegal seeds being sold. “The use of such seeds is illegal and liable for punishment,” he said.
“The farmers should ensure that the bag on which ‘fertilizer’ is inscribed is the only bag authorized to be sold by the government,” said Chotalia.
Meanwhile, the agriculture department of Gir Somnath district slapped 35 traders with show cause notices after they found the samples of fertilizer, pesticides and seeds to have been below standard and spurious.