Bt cotton seed cos get showcause notice for not abiding by seed supply plans in Maharashtra

PUNE: Top Bt cotton seed companies in Maharashtra get showcause notices from the state agriculture department for not abiding by their supply plans. “The seed companies had promised to make seeds available before the sowing season. We have started getting complaints from the dealers about severe delays in seed supplies,” said SS Adsool, director, agriculture (inputs and quality control). However, MG Shembekar, vice president, National Seed Association of India, has claimed that all the seed companies have supplied more than 80% of their plan schedule.

“It (shortage of seeds) is due to farmers’ preference for perticular varieties,” said Shembekar. The agriculture department estimates the cotton acreage to go up by more than 11% from 40 lakh hectares last year to 45 lakh hectares this year. Less than two percent of the cotton area in the state is irrigated where early sowing of cotton by third week of May takes place. As per the statistics with the agricultural department , cotton has been sown on 78,000 hectares in the Khandesh belt comprising of Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar districts in north Maharashtra, bordering Gujarat.

The state needs 1.80 crore packets of Bt cotton seeds as about 95% of the cotton acreage in the state is now under Bt cotton variety . Total 83 seed companies including 22 producer-seller companies have licenses for selling Bt cotton seeds in Maharashtra. They had reported an availability of two crore and two lakh seed packets for sale in the state. “The seed companies have supplied about 55% to 65% of their plan commitment,” said Adsool.

Black marketing of Bt cotton seeds has become a routine issue in the state in the past few years. “The seed companies have taken advance booking amounts from the dealers, which they might have to return if they fail to abide by the supply plan. This point has also been brought to the notice of the seed companies in the showcause notices,” added Adsool.