Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Farmers in Telangana continue to face yearly losses due to private company seeds that often fail to give proper yield, get easily affected by pests and sometimes turn out to be counterfeit. Farmers say that after every crop failure, protests and dharnas take place, the government makes noise and promises action on private companies, but permanent solutions are not taken up.

In undivided Andhra Pradesh, AP Seeds Corporation ensured supply of quality seeds and prevented losses. After bifurcation, the Telangana Seeds Corporation gradually fell into neglect, leading to a shortage of government-certified TG Seeds. With no regular government seed supply, private companies took over the market, bringing fake seeds into circulation and causing severe losses to farmers.

Telangana currently has 909 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, 987 Agros centres and nearly 15,000 seed–fertilizer dealers who are supposed to sell government seeds. But the previous government fixed only 8 percent commission on TG Seeds, due to which dealers reportedly stopped selling them.Officials say that dealers supplied very little stock only when pressured by the government and returned the remaining TG Seeds.

Seed Development Corporation Chairman Anvesh Reddy has now taken special focus on this issue and is enforcing rules to ensure that licensed dealers must sell TG Seeds. He also studied why farmers are eager to buy subsidized jowar and millet seeds but not paddy seeds. The main reason found was lack of proper publicity for TG Seeds.

During the previous government’s tenure, only 26,000 quintals of paddy seed were sold. Officials say the Congress government has improved the situation and raised sales to 56,000 quintals this Kharif. The government and the Seeds Corporation are preparing a full plan to sell 10 lakh quintals across the state soon.

For this Yasangi (Rabi) season, a target of 1.20 lakh quintals of paddy seed has been fixed. To achieve this, dealers will be given individual sales targets. Each dealer may be asked to sell around 20 quintals. Many dealers who have government licences continue to sell private seeds. The government is planning strong measures to stop this practice.

The government has announced that TG Seeds will be supplied to PACS, DCMS and all dealers with an 8 percent discount. Orders above 2 tonnes will get both the 8 percent discount and free transportation to villages. Officials say TG Seeds give higher yields compared to many private brands.

Common varieties include KNM-1638 giving 28–30 quintals per acre, Telangana Sona (RNR-15048) with 26–28, JGL-27356 giving around 28, RNR-28361 giving 30–32 and JGL-24423 giving up to 34 quintals. Ten varieties of paddy are supplied by the government. Despite higher yield potential, sales suffered earlier because discounts were not given to dealers by the previous government.

Farmer unions say that the government must take up large-scale campaigning on TG Seeds through Rythu Vedikas and other media platforms. They believe proper awareness can prevent farmers from depending on unreliable private seeds and suffering yearly losses.

Telangana Seeds Corporation Chairman Sunketa Anvesh Reddy said a detailed plan is underway to ensure TG Seeds reach farmers without interruption. He said meetings with dealers have been conducted and targets fixed for the Yasangi season.

Agriculture officials have been instructed to explain TG Seed quality and yield at Rythu Vedikas. He warned that licences of government-certified dealers will be cancelled if they fail to sell TG Seeds. He added that the government’s guarantee behind TG Seeds must be explained clearly to farmers to ensure they are protected from losses caused by private and counterfeit seeds.