(a) Whether the selling of spurious seeds by traders in the country has came to the notice of the Government;
(b) If so, the details thereof, State-wise and crop-wise; and
(c) The steps taken by the Government to safeguard the interest of farmers and action taken against such
traders? ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI KANTI LAL BHURIA)
(a) to (c): There have been reports of supply of spurious Bt. cotton seeds in some States, particularly
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Central Government as well as State Governments are
taking all necessary measure to check sale of spurious Bt. cotton seeds. The Government of India has advised to
all the Bt. cotton growing States to take necessary punitive action against the producers and vendors of spurious
Bt. cotton seeds under the provisions of Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and Seeds (Control) Order, 1983.
Bt. cotton growing States have also been asked to create awareness among the farmers through awareness
campaign about the potential risk associated with Bt. cotton seeds. Adequate financial assistance has been
extended to all Bt. cotton growing States to purchase necessary Bt. gene detection kit. Labelling standard for Bt.
cotton has been prescribed and gazettee notification to this effect has been issued under relevant provision of the
Seeds Act, 1966. Besides, the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur has been notified as
Referral Lab for detecting the presence of Bt. gene.
Department of Seed Certification, Tamil Nadu has established a laboratory in the Directorate of Seed
Certification, Coimbatore to test cotton seeds to analyze whether it contains illegal Bt. gene. The Government of
Punjab has also informed that they have issued strict instructions to all the field functionaries to check and stop
the sale of spurious seeds. They have also undertaken massive campaign for educating farmers on the issue.
The Government of Gujarat has also constituted special Flying Squad to prevent spreading of illegal Bt.
cotton seeds. Press notes have been published in the newspapers by Government of Gujarat to create awareness
among farmers regarding use of unauthorized Bt. cotton seeds. The State Government had constituted special
squad which raided in the premises of seed producers, processing plants and packing units and ceased 272.53
quintals of spurious seeds of Bt. cotton and 49 persons were arrested under Section IPC-420. The stop sale notice
were issued for detection of stocks of Bt. cotton hybrids NCS-145 in the State because of complaints about poor
germination.
The Department of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka has constituted a Task Force to conduct
surprise visits to all the seed dealers as well as premises of seed producers/agencies for drawing the seed samples
for quality analysis of Bt. cotton seeds. The Department has also seized 1100 packets of fake Bt. cotton seeds
and spurious Bt. cotton seeds suppliers have been arrested and a case field against them.
The Government of Madhya Pradesh has informed that there is no report about spurious Bt. cotton seed
in the State. The seed inspectors are equipped with Bt. detection kit and State has already taken steps to prevent
illegal sale of spurious Bt. cotton.