AP likely to debar tainted Bt cotton firms

Bt cotton seed companies that were blacklisted by the Andhra Pradesh government may have to challenge another move by the state government at the end of this crop season.

The state agricultural department plans to cancel the licences of those seed companies which fail to compensate, Bt cotton growers who suffered loss before this crop season.

A case against the companies selling Bt cotton seeds has already been filed earlier this month by the state government with the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission in New Delhi for exorbitant pricing.

In response to a query on what steps that the state had taken to compensate the effected cotton growers, the state agricultural minister N Raghuveera Reddy said, "A compensation case is pending in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The company (Mahyco-Monsanto) had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the state government for compensation.

If they are not going to pay up before the end of this season, we will not even hesitate to cancel their licence."

Reddy was addressing mediapersons on the fifth and concluding day of the Indian Science Congress on Saturday.

Ironically, the Bt cotton seed selling companies in the state "� Monsanto, Mahyco, Rasi, Nuziveedu and Proagro "� were sponsors to the 93rd Indian Science Congress.

On the incidence of spurious seeds in the state, Reddy said, "We have taken stringent measures to stop sale of spurious seeds. This kharif season alone, we have arrested 57 persons involved in selling spurious seeds. Sample Bt kits, procured from a research station in Nagpur, have been given to all our field staff to instantly test whether the seed is of Bt quality or not."

In the last kharif season, a total of about 5.58 lakh acre of the total cotton crop of about 9.5 lakh hectare was under Bt cotton cultivation in the state.