Spurious Bt cotton seeds racket busted,accused gives the slip

The department also seized a Maruti van used by the accused to supply seeds to the buyers. The spurious seeds and the vehicle were handed over to Mansa police and an FIR pertaining to duplicate seeds was registered against Patel.

Officials said the fake packets bore the mark of Ajit-155-2 of Aurangabad-based Ajit Seeds Private Limited.

Joint Director(Agriculture) K S Jetroja told The Indian Express that following a tip-off,two officials – from the department went to Patel,posing as farmers,to buy BT cotton seeds of Ajit seed company. But Patel did not directly deliver the seeds from his shop and instead asked them to come to a place where a Maruti van was parked. As soon as Patel delivered the packets,the officials tried to detain him,but Patel gave them the slip.

The officials seized the van and subsequently carried out raids at Patel’s shop. The police were informed and inquiries revealed that the accused did not have license to trade in seeds,Jetroja said.

To prevent the sale of Bt Cotton seeds,Jetroja said the department had earlier asked cotton farmers to insist for a bill for the purchase so that unscrupulous dealers are easily caught.

According to agriculture department officials,Ajit brand of Bt Cotton seeds is among the most sought after by farmers in Gujarat and some unscrupulous traders are taking advantage of this fact by selling spurious seed packets of this brand.

Two years ago,RCH Bt cotton seeds produced by Rasika Cotton Hybrid Company was much sought after and some unscrupulous traders were caught at that time for selling fake seeds of this brand.

Officials said traders made a neat profit by the sale of spurious seeds. A 450 gms packet is priced at Rs 650 if it happens to be Bollguard 1 type and Rs 750 for Bollguard 2,which is more resistant to pests and insects.

A total of 70 seed companies,most of them licensees of US bio-tech major Monsanto,are presently selling Bt Cotton seeds in Gujarat. Over 40 lakh packets of BT cotton seeds are annually sold in the state.