Stern action against spurious fertiliser traders

Guntur: Minister for Agriculture Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy warned of stern action, if the traders sell spurious fertilisers, seeds and pesticides to make a fast buck. He conducted surprise checks in fertiliser, pesticides and seeds shops in Guntur on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that he inspected Surya Teja Fertilisers, Raghavedra Enterprises, Anjaneya Traders at Patnam Bazar and collected samples from the shops.

He said that the government has banned sale of Glycoside six months ago in the state. Farmers, who used this medicine earlier suffered heavy losses. He further stated that he will send the samples collected in the fertiliser and pesticide shops to the lab for conducting the tests.

He warned that he will take stern action, if lab reports will prove that it is spurious pesticide. He said that they seized Rs 6.24 crore worth pesticides and fertilisers in the state so far. He said that the farmers are getting spurious seeds, pesticides and fertilisers from Gujarat and Maharashtra states and cheating the innocent farmers.

He said that so far 36 cases were registered under the Section 6(A). He further stated that they registered three criminal cases against the traders in the district.

He urged the farmers to give information about spurious fertilisers, pesticides, seeds and warned that the district administration will take action against them.

He said that the farmers suicides in the state are on the wane because the government is implementing welfare schemes for farmers, including crop loan waiver scheme.

Joint director of agriculture Vijaya Bharati, revenue divisional officer Srinivasa Rao, deputy director of agriculture Lingaiah accompanied Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.