Govt to continue regulating seed, pharma prices: Radha Mohan Singh

NEW DELHI: Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has said that the government will not allow companies such as Monsanto to exploit farmers and it will continue to regulate the prices of seeds and pharmaceuticals.

“Monsanto is a good company. It has knowledge, but it doesn’t mean you loot farmers and charge any price,” Singh said on Monday while addressing a two-day conference in Delhi on kharif sowing season. The minister asked government officials to keep a check on the prices of seeds and any monopolistic activity which impacts farmers’ lives. “We will have to ensure that whether it is price of seed or pharmaceuticals, no one fixes prices as they want it. We will continue to regulate prices, whenever required,” he said.

There should be competition between companies to sell products, Singh said. The spokesperson of American company Monsanto declined to comment on the matter.

In December, the government had issued an order to control cotton seed prices, including trait or royalty value, effective from 2016-17 crop year (July-June).