Action under way against substandard, unregistered pesticides and seeds

HYDERABAD: From the beginning of the month of July, the Sindh agriculture department started action against warehouses, dealers and vendors over the sale of substandard pesticides and seeds of various private companies in the province.

Plant Protection Director and Federal Designated Inspector Shankar Lal told The News that the purpose of the actions at the district and tehsil level in the province was to prevent the sale of substandard agricultural drugs.

He said that during surprise visits, licences of dealers and vendors, and the products they were offering were being checked and sent to a laboratory.

He explained that so far, FIRs had been registered against three dealers and applications filed against two.

More than 25 expired and sub-standard products of different companies were seized from dealers, after which action was taken and four sale points were closed, Lal said.

He added that the samples collected from dealers and vendors were being checked in an established laboratory in Karachi and after receiving the lab report, companies and dealers concerned could file an appeal within 30 days.

The plant protection director said that since the action against the dealers and vendors began, efforts started to influence it through political interference.

Meanwhile, dealers of several districts of the Hyderabad division told The News that it was a good move that action was being taken against non-standard and non-registered products, but it would have been better if an awareness campaign had been run first.