Dealer loses licence for selling spurious fungicide

Moga, September 17

Sale of spurious fungicide has come to light in Moga district, officials of the state Agriculture Department said today.

They have found that a fake chemical formulation of ‘Amistar Top’, a fungicide manufactured by Sygenta, a UK-based company, was being sold to farmers in the Malwa belt, particularly in Moga district. Amistar Top is a suspension concentrate containing 18.2 per cent Azoxystrobin and 11.4 per cent Difenconazole. It is a broad-spectrum fungicide for the control of a wide range of diseases in paddy, barley, grapes, maize, onions, peas, potatoes, sweet corn, tomatoes and wheat.

A notice was issued by the Agriculture Department to Sygenta India Limited, a sister-concern of the UK-based company at its manufacturing unit in Dera Bassi (Mohali) but the company authorities claimed that the batch number of the sold product did not match with their production records, which raised the suspicion that the product was not genuine. Plant protection officer Jaswinder Singh Brar raided the pesticide shop Manes Pesticides and Fertilisers Store, Dharamkot, from where the fungicide was being purchased. Since, it was prima facie confirmed that the dealer had sold spurious fungicide, his licence was cancelled by the department with immediate effect. — TNS