Now, seed mixture ruins pea crop in state

Ludhiana : After bearing huge losses due to the whitefly attack and low prices of Basmati and PUSA-1509 variety, farmers have suffered another setback as National Seed Corporation Limited allegedly supplied a mixture of mid-season, late-season and early verities of pea seeds to farmers. The pea crop in Hoshiarpur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts has been hit. The farmers, who bought seeds at Rs 250 per kg, have failed to recover their money.
In most areas of Doaba and Majha regions, 70 per cent crop has witnessed no flowering so far. On the other hand, the farmers who sowed seeds of AP-3 variety procured from private firms have no complaints. Narinder Singh of Pandori Kadh village in Hoshiarpur district spent Rs 40,000 on buying 160kg seeds of AP-3 variety from Brar Seed Store situated outside Punjab Agricultural University’s Gate No 1 on November 22. “After two months, the plants got matured but there is no flowering on 65 per cent of the crop. We are suspecting that the seed seller gave us a mixture of late-sown varieties. I spent Rs 1.81 lakh on crop in four acres. My family is under stress after the crop failure. The seed firm should compensate us and its licence cancelled,” he said. Brar Seed Store owner Jagtar Singh said, “There was some defect in the seeds received from National Seed Corporation. We have been trying to contact them on the phone and through email, but they are not responding.” Another farmer from Saido Lehal village of Amritsar said, “The mixture of various varieties of pea seeds has ruined several farmers in our area. Our dreams of a good harvest have turned into a nightmare. The government should compensate us.” Gurkamal Singh, Director Horticulture, Punjab said, “We have received several complaints from various districts in the state, especially the Majha and Doaba regions. Most of the complaints are those who sowed the seeds supplied by National Seed Corporation (NSC). Experts from Punjab Agricultural University, NSC, Horticulture Department and the Agriculture Department have observed that the seeds were mixed with mid-sown and late-sown verities. We have sent samples to a laboratory for testing and apprised the government on the issue. Farmers have suffered huge losses.”