Jalandhar: Given mixed rice seeds, farmers face loss due to uneven ripening

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 1

Badi umeed naal jhona laaya si, hun kheta vall jaan da jee nai krda (I had sown paddy with much hope, now I don’t feel like going near the fields), says farmer Gurnoor Singh from Nawanpind Gatewal village in Kapurthala. He had cultivated paddy on 70 acres. A few days ago, he started noticing that while the grains were still in panicle initiation state in some parts of the field, the grains almost got matured (milk stage) in the remaining area.

This alerted him and soon he got to know that many other farmers were experiencing the same problem. They all fear major losses now as it will affect the yield and quality of the crop. On checking, the Agriculture Department found mixing of seeds of an unknown short duration variety with the one that was sown by the farmers. The department has also cancelled the licence of the seed store owner and has sent a show-cause notice to the company that manufactured this variety.

As per the information, the problem has been faced by some farmers in the Gurdaspur area also. The Chief Agriculture Officer, Gurdaspur, said farmers had complained of this problem. “Show-cause notices have been sent to the company and the store owner here,” he added.

Many farmers from Nawanpind Gatewal, Mithra, Chotta Boolpur, Dham and few other villages from Kapurthala had sown a long duration variety (SR 110) on over 800 acres. The seeds had been bought from a local store. But they were shocked to see a difference in the growth of paddy plants in the same field. This variety is not recommended by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), said Agriculture Department officials.

The farmers approached the Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Kapurthala, after which a five-member committee was constituted. One of the committee members said permissible mixing limit is 1-2 per cent, but in this case, 15- 20 per cent mixing of an unknown seed has been found.

Balbir Chand, CAO, Kapurthala, said: “On checking, it was found that there was mixing of the seeds. I have cancelled the licence of the seed store owner and have also sent show-cause notice to the company, which has produced the seed SR 110. We are taking up the matter seriously.”

He said actual loss can be assessed during the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs). Also, the CAO has written to the Directorate, Agriculture Department, to cancel the production and manufacturing licence of the company according to the Seed Act.

Kuldeep Singh, another farmer from Nawanpind Gatewal who sowed the seed on 14 acres, said: “Now, the grains which have got matured will shed soon and others will take some days to mature. We spent on labour, fertilisers, pesticides, and now we will suffer losses.” Jaswant Singh, Director, Agriculture, said: “I have called the company officials and Chief Agriculture officials to know the matter in detail.”