Already hit by the sharp rise in the prices of Bt cotton seeds, farmers of Andhra Pradesh are now faced with an acute shortage of seeds leading to an unprecedented crisis in the state this year due to hoarding and black-marketing by seed dealers, besides flooding of spurious seeds from neighboring states. [...] Though the agriculture department officials have claimed that there are adequate stocks of Bt cotton seeds, the demand is so heavy that at several places, department officials are forced to allot seeds to farmers through draw of lots or even through auction, so that whoever pays higher rate would get the seed packets.