FSII terms Maharashtra govt’s raids on its members over cotton seed issue as unfair

Mumbai: Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), a seed industry body representing research-based seed companies in India has appealed to authorities in the state of Maharashtra to resolve the matter of complaints related to damage to the cotton crop in some regions.

In its statement issued to the press, FSII mentioned that it has been engaging with the authorities during last few weeks to resolve the matter of complaints related to damage to cotton crop in some regions.

The Association, however, stated that it is disturbed at the actions by the authorities in the last few days in Maharashtra, in raiding the premises of some of its reputed members and taking unilateral action of stopping the operations and seizing the stocks without reasonable evidence.

The FSII members include India’s top seed and seed technology companies such as Bayer, Dow Agro, Dupont Pioneer, Mahyco, Metahelix, Monsanto, Namdhari, Rasi Seeds, Shriram Bioseeds and Syngenta.

FSII elaborated further: “Needless to say, that such unilateral and unfair actions will result in hurting the interests of the responsible Seed Industry apart from diminishing the availability of new seed innovations in the future. While all our members would fully cooperate on any genuine investigation related to this matter, in the larger interest of Indian farmers, we would appeal to the authorities not to harass the bona fide companies of the organized and research based Industry.”