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New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a scathing attack on the sale of spurious fertilisers, seeds and pesticides, calling them a “curse for farmers” and ordering a nationwide crackdown to protect cultivators.
Chairing a high-level review meeting on Monday at Krishi Bhavan with senior officials of the Agriculture Ministry and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Chouhan directed coordinated raids with state governments to root out the menace.
“Factories and shops found guilty of selling spurious inputs must be sealed immediately. Hundreds of farmers are suffering across districts. Yesterday, I visited soybean fields where a pesticide destroyed the crop instead of saving it. I saw their pain myself. We cannot allow this loot to continue,” Chouhan told officials.
The minister said agriculture staff must go to the fields, collect samples and initiate swift punitive action. “If we act firmly, it will create fear among fraudsters and provide relief to farmers,” he stressed, adding that he would personally monitor progress across states.
Chouhan also asked for extensive awareness campaigns under the ongoing ‘Vikasit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’ to educate farmers about ways to identify genuine inputs and safeguard their produce. “Our duty is not just to act when something goes wrong, but to prevent it from happening in the first place,” he noted.
In a related directive, Chouhan asked Agriculture Department teams to verify implementation of central subsidy schemes for polyhouses, greenhouses and farm mechanisation. He emphasised that subsidies must reach farmers on time and that field-level verification should be strengthened to curb misuse.
With the peak kharif season underway, the minister’s intervention signals a zero-tolerance approach towards fraudulent practices that threaten farm productivity and farmer livelihoods.
