Government assures adequate Bt cotton seeds

HYDERABAD: Even as farmers are protesting against the state government over inadequate supply of the seeds of Bt cotton, the government on Thursday made it clear that it cannot supply the seeds of a few companies which are preferred by farmers.However, the government assured farmers of adequate supply and a drive against sale of spurious seeds in the market.A delegation of Telugu Desam legislators led by Errabelli Dayakar Rao called on minister for higher education and agriculture Damodara Rajanarsimha in his chambers in the Secretariat here on Thursday and sought supply of adequate number of BT cotton seed packets to farmers.The TDP leaders said farmers were preferring the cotton seeds of particular companies which were not able to meet the demand.“This is leading to sale of these particular brands in black market at higher prices.But the government failed to take measures to stop black-marketing and ensure supply of the preferred brand seeds in large quanities,” Dayakar Rao alleged.The minister said that out of 27 seed companies operating in the state, farmers were preferring seeds of only seven companies which do not have the capacity to meet the entire demand.“As against the required 91 lakh packets of cotton seeds, about 48 lakh packets have been supplied to farmers.Another 40 lakh packets will be supplied in the next three days,” the minister said and affirmed that it was not possible for the preferred brand companies to supply the entire quantity of seeds required for the state.Meanwhile, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has instructed chief secretary SV Prasad to direct district collectors to make the Bt cotton seeds available as per requirement.He wanted the officials concerned to take stringent action against those indulging in black-marketing. The chief secretary said the government would supply one crore packets during this season as against the requirement of 91 lakh packets of cotton seeds.It was also decided to create awareness among farmers on the available Bt hybrids as all of them have yield parameters also.Farmers are also advised to use the right seed ratio of not exceeding one and a half packets of Bt seed per acre.