Cases were booked under the Seeds Act, 1966, against Jeeva and Bhramaputra seed companies and the managing directors of the firms were arrested, said Minister for Agriculture Prathipati Pulla Rao at a media conference here on Monday.
Refuting charges that the State government had not taken any action against seed companies that had supplied spurious seeds to farmers, Mr. Pulla Rao said besides the arrests, cases were booked under the P.D. Act against the two companies. The licence of another company, Kaveri Seeds, was suspended and the company was being asked to pay compensation of Rs. 43 lakh.
In all, 35 licences, including that of 15 distributors, had been suspended and steps were being taken to ensure that the seed companies compensated the farmers for the loss they incurred because of the spurious seeds. The Revenue Recovery Act would be used to make the seed companies pay compensation to the farmers who had incurred losses using the seeds, the Minister said.
Mr. Pulla Rao refutied the charges that the seed
companies had his tacit support.
Thirty-five licences, including that of 15 distributors, have been suspended.
Prathipati Pulla Rao
Minister for Agriculture
