Crackdown against Fake Seeds, Pesticides and Fertilizers
Last Updated: 29 September 2026
Stricter law (July 2025): Cabinet approved Seeds (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2025 making sale of spurious seeds non-bailable; companies face 1-3 yrs jail & up to ₹50 lakh fine (earlier just ₹500-1,000 fine)[1]
-- 5 state flying squads formed to check quality of seeds, fertilisers & pesticides[2]
IMPACT[3]: Mar2024 - Jan2025
141 seed samples failed quality tests, while 81 pesticide samples were misbranded, and 78 fertiliser samples were sub-standard
Legal actions have been initiated against the responsible dealers and firms
FY 2024-25[3:1]: Bi-weekly reports on Targets set at 6,100 for seed samples, 4,800 for pesticides, and 3,700 for fertilisers
Portal to monitor Seeds sale: Launch soon[4]
will require registered seed producers to log about every transaction involving paddy seeds, including seed purchases, sales, and quantities
DAP scam[5]: AAP Govt exposed this scam as 60% samples of DAP FAILED
-- DAP is allocated to the state by the Centre
-- A letter has been written to Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers informing about poor quality
-- 40 samples tested by the department, 24 failed the quality test
1. Action on Fake Seeds
Punjab Government cancelled the licences of 9 dealers whose 11 samples of seeds showed poor germination[6]
The samples of 9 seed companies were tested and Laboratory results confirmed that the seeds had poor germination capability
- Acting on complaints of poor quality cotton seeds in villages of Mansa, Action was taken under the Seeds Act, 1966, and the Seeds Control Order, 1983
- Flying Squads: The district administration formed a flying squad at the block level to monitor the illegal sale of PUSA-44 and the sale of spurious seeds[7]
- The district and block-level officers to conduct regular checks of seed-selling shops and in case of irregularity action against the sellers under the Seed Act[7:1]
2. Crackdown on sub-standard fertilizers
Agriculture department has set a target of testing 4700 fertiliser samples during FY 2024-25[8]
As of July 2024, 1004 samples of fertilisers have been collected under the Quality Control campaign and sent to different labs for testing
Punjab Govt has canceled the licences of 2 fertiliser companies for supplying substandard Diammonium Phosphate (DAP)[9]
- The two companies are M/s Madhya Bharat Agro Products Limited and M/s Krishna Phoschem Pvt. Ltd whose license is cancelled
3. Check on Pesticides[10]
Target of testing 4500 pesticide samples during FY 2024-25
As many as 1009 samples have been collected and 18 found misbranded so far
Related
References:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-govt-makes-sale-of-spurious-seeds-non-bailable-offence/ ↩︎
https://yespunjab.com/punjab-forms-five-flying-squad-teams-to-monitor-quality-of-agricultural-products/ (Punjab Govt Press Release) ↩︎
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/punjab-khudian-asks-agri-officers-to-submit-biweekly-reports-on-farm-schemes-101737480494657.html ↩︎ ↩︎
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/to-safeguard-farmers-punjab-launches-portal-to-check-sale-of-uncertified-paddy-seeds-says-minister-gurmeet-singh-khudian/articleshow/118946088.cms ↩︎
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/60-dap-samples-fail-test-cm-asks-minister-to-act-against-guilty/ ↩︎
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/poor-germination-of-cotton-seeds-9-dealers-lose-licence/ ↩︎
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/patiala/flying-squad-formed-to-check-sale-of-pusa-44-617281 ↩︎ ↩︎
https://www.dailypioneer.com/2024/state-editions/punjab-agri-dept-tightens-noose-around-spurious-pesticide-dealers.html ↩︎
