Seed ‘sourced’ from PAU: Report

Ruchika M Khanna

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 19

The DNA report of seeds seized from a shop opposite Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has clearly established that seeds being sold to farmers without approval and certification had a similar genetic composition as the seed developed by the agricultural university.

The report establishes that the seed was sourced from the PAU, multiplied elsewhere and then sold to farmers by claiming that it had high-yielding properties similar to PAU 201. The PAU has been denying that it had sold the source seed to any private firm.

The scam came to light after a raid was conducted at Brar Seed Store in Ludhiana last month to check hoarding of paddy seeds. The raid led to recovery of PR 128 and PR 129 seeds at the store. Both varieties have been recently developed by the PAU, but are yet to be notified by the State Seed Sub Committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Development), or the Central Committee. Only the Punjab State Varietal Approval Committee had given its report on the properties of the seed, which allowed the university to prepare the seed and give it to a section of farmers for trials. These seeds have also failed the germination test conducted by the Agriculture Department. “This could be because the seeds were used immediately after these were harvested and packed with high-moisture content,” said Sutantar Kumar Airi, Director Agriculture .

He said another DNA test of the seeds seized from Brar Seed Store was being done and the report would be available within 10 days.

The Tribune has learnt that the PAU had formed a group of farmers under the Seed Producers and Nursery Growers’ Association (SPANA), for a three-year trial of the seeds.

This was the first time that the seeds were given for trials, but these were neither ‘breeder seeds’ nor ‘foundation seeds’. “These were ‘truthfully labelled seeds’ of the two above mentioned varieties, meant to be tried by the farmers in the SPANA group only. It is believed that a member of the group got a large quantity of these seeds and then started breeding and multiplying it in South India and in those areas of the North East, which receive high rainfall (where three paddy crops are available in a year),” said a senior government official .

The firm marketing the seeds (Karnal Agri Seeds), realised that there was panic among farmers due to shortage of labour. Even farmers thought that direct seeding would require a larger quantity of seeds. As a result, the unscrupulous dealer started releasing PR 128 and PR 129 in the market.