Bt cotton seed may be used in big way in B'ngir

In the absence of available hybrid cotton seed, once again it is the Bt Cotton seed which is entering the district through a nexus of seed companies, dealers and officials in the district.

Sources said the cotton cultivation in the district is scheduled to be taken up in 38,500 hectares. Against seed requirement of around one lakh packets of cotton seed, the cotton seed dealers are ready to supply only 12,000 packets hybrid cotton seed.

A recent joint raid at Patnagarh on June 16 last where 27.43 quintals of Bt cotton seed were seized has confirmed that the farmers are going to use the ban seed in a great way for cultivating cotton in the district.

The proprietor Khageshwar Meher could not produce supporting documents against the consignment. The officials issued a show-cause notice to him. According to sources, the cotton seed seized was Bt cotton, but in the official report it was mentioned that only cotton seed was seized.

Meanwhile, in a new development, the Deputy Director  of Agriculture Bolangir issued show cause  notices to Bayer  Crop Science Private limited, Nath Bio-Genes (I), Aurangabad and Nuzi Veddu Seeds, Rangareddy, Telegana , asking them why action would not be taken against them for illegal hoarding of cotton seed and marketing of the stock without valid licences.