Authorities in India displayed on Thursday (17 June) what they said was 220 tonnes of counterfeit seeds seized from sellers peddling the sub-standard products to farmers.
The seeds were worth over eight hundred thousand dollars, authorities said.
The illegal business boomed in southern India's Telangana state until it was investigated by police and local authorities.
Thirteen people have been arrested in connection with the alleged scam, and three more fled.
One of the accused was Karnati Madhusudan Reddy, who has previously gone to jail for selling fake seeds to farmers, while the main accused, Srinivas Reddy, a chartered accountant from Mahbubnagar district, is said to have confessed to setting up a company to sell the seeds.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the illegal businesses kept booming in southern India's Telangana on June 17. The incident took place in the Nalgonda district.
Visuals feature the officials estimating the value of all the recovered items and keep a check on them. Meanwhile, all the seized items are displayed to the public with labels on them while sacks full of illicit items are placed under the shed as the authorities take a tour and inspect all the products. After a while, they disclose the entire matter to the public to keep them aware.
Agriculture Minister, Niranjan Reddy, and Director General of Police (DGP) Mahender Reddy, and the Nalgonda district police have been able to seize large quantities of counterfeit seeds on a case-by-case basis as per the aspirations of Telangana Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekhar Rao, to ensure that farmers are not deceived.
As part of the police investigation, searches were carried out at Gajwel in Siddipet, Nandyala, and Allagadda in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, Gadwala in Telangana, Jadcherla in Mahbubnagar district, Gundlapochampally and Yellampet in Rangareddi district, Devarayamjal Medchal-Malkajgiri district, Boinapally in Nalgonda district, and other areas.
After conducting an in-depth investigation into the scam for days, they arrested 13 accused people, while three absconded the scene. One of the accused was Karnati Madhusudan Reddy, who earlier went to jail for selling fake seeds to farmers to make loads of profit while the main accused, Srinivas Reddy, a chartered accountant from Mahbubnagar district revealed he had set up a company called Southwest Seeds in Gundlapochampally and was operating a counterfeit seed business under the same name.
He has been procuring paddy, maize, and vegetable seeds from farmers at low cost for the last four years and has not complied with any quality standards. He declared his seeds to be of high quality in violation of the laws and sold the seeds with packing covers, QR codes, and other labels without any license. If the yield was low after the purchase of these fake seeds, he blamed the land for not being fertile due to various reasons.
Moreover, after seizing the illicit products, the officials saved a total of 40,000 acres of land from a big scam and protected farmers from incurring a huge loss. Around Rs. 27 crores 12 lakh 96 thousand (USD 36,73,833) worth of seeds, along with fake seeds worth Rs. 6 crores (USD 8,11,711), including 20 tonnes of cotton worth Rs. 4 crores (USD 5,41,140) and 200 tonnes of paddy, maize, and vegetable seeds worth Rs. 2 crores (USD 2,70,570), were retrieved together with two cars, 13 phones, and rest of the items. Furthermore, the officials behind this plan of action would be rewarded by the senior authorities for their vigilance.
