31.12.2007 | permalink
Private companies make a kill by fleecing gullible farmers to the tune of Rs. 50 to Rs. 60 crore annually by selling ordinary and quite often spurious seed. The cotton seed which is sown in an extent of 3.5 lakh acres in the district is entirely sold by private companies at the rate of around Rs. 750 per packet. The companies sell an average of five lakh packets a year. Similarly, maize is sown in an extent of 1.5 lakh acres and each packet is sold at Rs. 300 and the chilly is sown in about 25,000 acres and one seed packet is prices at Rs. 3,000.