The sheer negligence on the part of National Seed Company (NSC) staffers resulted in the decay of 61 metric tons of wheat seeds worth about a million rupees. NSC had bought the seed for 1,500 rupees per quintal to sell them in the subsidized price to the farmers.
The seed which was not properly stored can not be use now, the staffers themselves admit. Ganesh Raj Panthi, the in-charge of NSC branch office in Nepalganj, accepted that the wheat seed was laid to waste due to mismanagement.
The office had sold 42 metric tons of wheat grain to the farmers for the seed in the fiscal year 2011/12. However, the remaining quantity, which should have to be auctioned off, was kept in the store for long without proper care.
NSC had brought a huge amount of the wheat grain without any calculation of demand for it. “There is no any alternative than to dump the rotten seed,” said Panthi.
The farmers in the district say that they are forced to sow substandard seed in their feed imported from Indian but the high-breed seeds rot off in the store.
Panthi also rules out the possibility of auctioning of the remaining seed as the pesticide is used in to preserve it from the pest makes it edible.
“We could have dumped the seed if it was small in quantity. Given the quantity, we are at a loss as to how and where to dump it,” Panthi adds.
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