Sale of special paddy seed stopped after PAU objects; agri dept had given nod

CHANDIGARH: The Gidderbaha based vendor of a ‘special variety’ of paddy seeds was asked to stop operations last week, after Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, raised objections.

The sale of the CR212 variety has been stopped even as it had a formal go-ahead from the state agricultural department in the form of a sale certificate.

However, the company could not produce technical tests, including the DNA finger prints of the variety and other reports that PAU conducts.

Such testing, for two years at the PAU, is mandatory before a new variety of seed can access the market.

Overall, the state has banned 48 vendors for selling spurious seeds this year.

‘SELLER COMPANY HAD TO GET TESTS DONE’

Agriculture director JS Bains said, “The university doesn’t have the test records, the companies had to get it done.” However, he vouched for the variety, CR212, saying that it grew well, even where the subsoil water quality did not meet the benchmarks.

“The germination and seeds purity was found satisfactory. I gave them breeder certificate on the basis of morphological character of the seed,” he added.

PAU vice-chancellor BS Dhillon said he had raised the issue with the state agriculture department as the department had the powers to act. “We cannot stand by a variety, which we have not tested. Has anybody evaluated the variety, I have a simple question to ask,” said Dhillon.

A joint director rank officer in the directorate who was

assigned to conduct an inquiry into the sale of the special variety said the officials of the said company were given sufficient time to produce evidence, but they produced a daily diary report from a police station that they had lost the record.

“This is no way of doing research. We can’t help if the company can’t maintain the records, so we had to reject their case,” the officer said, on the condition of anonymity.

The company even moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking a stay on the ban.

However, this plea was rejected as the directorate claimed that breeding records and testing for two years by PAU was mandatory for any new variety.

An officer in the agriculture directorate said that the company had now been left with a stock of 7,000 quintal; the seed was being sold at ₹70 a kilogram. On the same lines, the agriculture department has also objected to sale of BR105 variety, as the company cannot produce the breeding record. Officials in agriculture department said this company had said the breeder of the variety had gone abroad.