Traders Warned Over Selling Cotton Seeds At Huge Prices

Minister for Agriculture Singireddy Niranjan Reddy today warned that stringent action would be initiated against those who sold cotton seeds at exorbitant prices to farmers.

Reddy said that cotton farmers in general used a BG11 variety of hybrid seeds for cultivation, and that all cotton seeds were the same even if produced by different companies.

He said that the union government had fixed the maximum price of Rs 853 for a 400-gram cotton seed packet, and that farmers should not buy any brand of the seeds at higher prices than the prescribed MRP.

He also said that even though the price of seeds was fixed by the union government, the State government would monitor the situation on the seeds distribution and its sales, Reddy said.

He claimed that some seed companies were creating an artificial scarcity in the market in a bid to take advantage of the situation, and that the State government would not spare companies or dealers selling seeds at prices higher than the MRP, and would slap criminal cases against and cancel any errant dealerships.

Reddy added that it had been estimated that cotton would be cultivated in about 65 lakh acres in Telangana this season, and that there was a requirement of 58,500 tons of cotton seeds.