It seems like the plight of the farmers in the state of Punjab is not likely to end too soon. In fact, the crisis will only get worse as an increase in the prices of sunflower crops and maize is expected. These high prices are a result of the absence of government agency checks. The farmers are forced to depend on dealers as the only the seed for Kharif season maize is provided by the agricultural department.
Seed dealers are creating false shortage for increasing rates. This grievance has reached the department as well as the district administration. The sowing of the spring maize crops and sunflower seeds take place around February and March, the harvest takes place in June.
While the spring maize seed is sold at the rate of 300-350 per kg, dealers are selling it at the rate of at least 550 per kg which is almost double the amount. The complaint regarding this has been lodged with the district administration. The bills are also not provided against these purchases made. As far as the sunflower seed rate is concerned, it has also increased to Rs 2600-3000 per 4 kgs as compared to the earlier price of Rs 1600.
Annually, spring maize is cultivated over 30,000 hectares of land in Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar. As per the Chief Agriculture Officer, there is no shortage of seeds in the market and they higher authorities have been informed about it.
Image Credit: agrifarming.in
