Farmers Forced To Buy Soyabean Seeds From Agriculture Department In MP's Sehore

Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): Resentment is brewing among the farmers against the agriculture department for allegedly forcing them to buy soybean seeds from the department.  The monsoon is around the corner, and the farmers are gearing up for sowing soybean seeds.

They are searching for good-quality seeds, but the agriculture department is providing them with demonstration kits and other items on subsidy. According to the farmers, the agriculture department has told them that only if they buy soybean seeds and other kits from the department will they get the subsidy.

The office of the farm extension officer is selling a demonstration kit for Rs 4,550. The kit included 75 kg of soybean seeds, pesticides, and other items. Nevertheless, the farmers are getting only 75 kg of seeds and not pesticides and other items. According to the scheme, the farmers may buy soybean seeds and other items from the market.

They have put up the bills for payment to be sent to their accounts. According to a farmer, Devraj Verma from Janpur Babdia village, the agriculture extension officers, Gram Sewak and senior agriculture officers are giving them wrong information. They are being told that if they buy seeds and other items from the market, they will get a subsidy.

A farmer from Nipaniya, Karan Singh Verma, said the agricultural department was giving 1,135 types of seeds, for which the farmers were unhappy. Such seeds do not yield good crops, and he could get only three quintals of soybeans on one acre last year, he said. Nevertheless, senior agriculture officer Kamal Singh Thakur said the seeds of soybean had come from the government organisation.

If they buy seeds from the organisation, they will get a subsidy, he said. The kit being given to the farmers is available for Rs 10,000 in the market, but the department is providing it at cheaper rates, Thakur further said.