Seed industry body wants action against illegal sale

NEW DELHI: Seed industry body FSII today raised concern over sale of unapproved GM cotton seeds in the current kharif season in some states and demanded that states should take action against "illegal" seed firms.

The Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) mentioned about reports of few state level local companies producing and selling Bt cotton hybrid seeds to farmers with unapproved GM technologies like Ht ( Herbicide Tolerance) in some cotton growing states in India.

"Such unauthorised sale of cotton seeds with unapproved technologies can put our farmers at possible risk of significant farming losses, without recourse like farmer insurance claims, owing to its unregulated production and distribution," said Ramasami, the Chairman of FSII.

He demanded that the state government should take strict action against perpetrators in accordance with local laws.

FSII Vice Chairman Arvind Kapur said it would cooperate with the regulators to identify these illegal players.

The association, which has 35 members, has been formed with the objective of bringing together like-minded research based seed companies to provide quality seeds and technological innovations for the benefit of farmers.