Amid ban on sale of hybrid paddy seeds, farmers feel squeezed between court dates

Indian Express

13-05-2025

'Tarikh Pe Tarikh…' Navjot Singh delivers this iconic dialogue from the 1993 Sunny Deol-starrer Bollywood hit 'Damini', as he prepares to sow the paddy nursery for his 12-acre field.
For the 27-year-old from Kamalpura village in Jagraon tehsil of Punjab's Ludhiana district, 'tarikh pe tarikh' reflects not reel, but a real-life situation of court adjournments and slow wheels of the judicial system.
In this case, it's a race against time, with nursery sowings just starting off and no clarity on availability of high-demand seeds at least till May 13. That's the date for the next hearing of the Punjab and Haryana High Court – on the Punjab government's April 7 order banning the sale of hybrid paddy seeds across the state.
'They heard the matter on April 25, May 2, May 5 and now it will be May 13. But we cannot wait that long, tarikh pe tarikh (date after date) to sow. Sowing has to take place 25-30 days before transplanting (when the seedlings raised in the nursery are uprooted and re-planted in the main field),' says Navjot.
The Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has set June 1 as the starting date for paddy transplanting operations. It means the sowing season is already underway.
Navjot had planned to sow his seeds from May 10. He has bought 16 kg of seeds of two hybrids – Sava-7301 and Sava-7501 – traveling almost 200 km one way to Sirsa in Haryana. But these will suffice for only four acre (at 4 kg/acre) of land.
'If the ban is not lifted in the court's next date, I'll have to make a fresh trip to Haryana and get the seeds for my remaining eight acre of land. The dealers there will, of course, take advantage and charge their price,' sighs Navjot.
He, like many farmers in Punjab, is keen to sow hybrid paddy seeds, bred by private companies such as Savannah Seeds, Corteva Agriscience/Pioneer, Bayer CropScience and VNR Seeds. These give higher yields than the varieties of public sector institutions such as Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI's).
'Last year, I harvested 38-40 quintals of paddy per acre from Sava-7501 and 35-36 quintals from Sava-7301 (both hybrids of Savannah Seeds), whereas it would be only 30 quintals from PAU's PR-126. While Pusa-44 (of IARI) also yields 35-36 quintals, it takes over 155 days to grow (from seed to grain), whereas the hybrids mature within 115-120 days,' claims Navjot.
Shamsher Singh, farmer with 20-acre of land from Talwandi Dasaundha Singh village of Amritsar district, has procured 56 kg of Sava-7501 seeds through a relative in Patiala, who, in turn, had sourced it from dealers from Haryana. The rest of the 24 kg requirement was bought from a dealer in Una, Himachal Pradesh.
'I don't have the time to wait for the court to decide. If farmers in other states can buy and plant these seeds, why are we being forced to run around like this?' quips the 32-year-old, who has obtained an average of 39 quintal per acre from Sava-7501 in the last two years. 'No variety, barring Pusa-44, can compete with this hybrid, which yields so much in so little time,' says Shamsher.
Jagtar Singh, a farmer from Gajewas village in Patiala district's Samana tehsil, has also placed orders for sowing hybrid seeds in his 25-acre paddy holding. He is part of a group of around 120 farmers who have tied up with seed dealers in Karnal, Haryana. 'If the court gives another date on May 13, we will simply go ahead and purchase from there. How can they stop us from planting these hybrids that yield up to 40 quintal per acre and also save water? These varieties take less time to grow.' he said.
Shorter duration, moreover, enables farmers to manage their leftover paddy stubble from combine-harvesting better. 'If I sow by May 15, my paddy can be harvested by mid-September. After that, I just need to irrigate once to plough back the stubble into the field, providing ample time to sow the next wheat crop by early-November,' Jagtar added.
Gurinder Singh, a farmer from Bhamian village in Khamanon tehsil of Fatehgarh Sahib district, was among the three parties – the other two being the Federation of Seed Industry of India and a dealer (New Kissan Agro Agency) – to challenge the April 7 order before the High Court bench of Justice Kuldeep Tiwari.
The petitioners' primary contention was that the Punjab government did not have the authority to issue a ban order on sale of seeds of hybrids notified by the Centre, after their evaluation by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for yield advantage, milling recovery and adaptability to different agro-climatic regions/states.
Such powers under the Seed Act and Seed Control Order were solely vested in the Controller of Seeds appointed by the Central government.