Tribune press service
Jalandhar, May 11
Show cause notices have been issued to as many as 30 seed dealers in the district by the Ministry of Agriculture. There are over 190 dealerships in Jalandhar. Ten teams were formed by the department which carried out inspections in 10 blocks of the district.
Some traders could not show the license for the seeds they sold, while others did not keep proper stock records or did not issue invoices to farmers. Those were the teams’ findings, after which officials issued show cause notices to dealers.
Now they have two days to respond or their license will be revoked. When the teams requested the documents from these seed dealers, many of them were unable to produce them. Last year, the license of two dealers had been cancelled.
The department has appealed to farmers to buy seed from trusted dealers and not compromise quality just to buy seed at low prices. The agents advised the farmers to buy the seeds from authorized dealers.
Meanwhile, several measures are taken by the department to persuade farmers to adopt varieties that take less time to grow, but hardly any difference is seen in the field. But now the department has approached dealers asking farms not to buy late paddy varieties such as PUSA 44, which is one of the most widely grown varieties by farmers.
Dr Naresh Gulati, head of agriculture, said dealers had been told to discourage farmers from buying the variety. Camps are also held from time to time to tell farmers why it was not right to sow the PUSA 44 paddy variety.
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