Kohima, August 6 (MExN): State Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) Y Kikheto Sema has issued a circular cautioning against the threat of unsolicited or mysterious seed parcels from unknown sources.
Citing the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare’s letter dated August 6 on the subject, the APC has requested all the concerned departments to issue necessary instructions to the district heads to inform the farmers not to solicit or use seeds that are received through parcels with mislabeled packages of unknown source or seeds of unknown origin.
Further, if such parcels are received or noticed, the matter should be immediately reported to authorities for immediate action, the APC directed.
Earlier, the Union Ministry of Agriculture’s letter had informed that the threat of such unsolicited packages was reported in many countries like the US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Japan and some European nations.
Since the last few months, thousands of such suspicious seed shipments have been reported across the world. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) termed it as ‘brushing scam’ and ‘agricultural smuggling’ and also reported that the parcels may contain ‘seeds of an alien invasive species or an attempt to introduce pathogens or disease that may pose serious threats to the environment, agriculture, ecosystem and national security.
Considering the threat of such parcels to the biodiversity of the country, the Ministry of agriculture had directed all States’ Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Universities, Seed Associations, State Seed Certification Agencies, Seed Corporations, ICAR and crop based research institutes to be vigilant about such parcels.
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