Shimla, Aug 25 (PTI) Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Tuesday urged farmers and orchardists to exercise caution regarding spurious Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) being sold in the open market.

He was responding to a 'Calling Attention Motion' moved under Rule 62 by Congress MLA from Theog, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, in the Assembly to ensure the quality of fungicides and pesticides supplied to the state's orchardists and farmers.

Negi acknowledged the presence of spurious PGRs in the open market and said that farmers and orchardists are falling prey to them.

He said that the state government has licensed 500 shops to sell pesticides and fungicides.

The government has also provided these shops with a schedule for application of these chemicals.

He said some orchardists are being lured by cheap PGRs offered by shopkeepers, resulting in a failure to achieve the desired outcomes and stressed the need for farmers' awareness.

He said the issue of spurious PGRs is not new and the orchardists have been raising such complaints for several years.

Addressing the issue of diseased plant material, Negi said that the government has banned the import of rootstock into the state without quarantine clearance. Despite this, such rootstock continues to enter the state through illicit routes.

The certification of quarantined rootstock is the responsibility of the central government, he clarified.

The minister also assured that there is no shortage of certified rootstock available with the state government.

Nevertheless, some orchardists purchase uncertified rootstock from the open market, which leads to the spread of diseases in their orchards.

He announced that the government has decided to have the Horticulture Department itself sell branded chemicals to farmers.

However, he also said that despite this decision, orchardists continue to purchase expensive pesticides from the open market.

Negi urged farmers and orchardists to avail themselves of the benefits of the weather-based crop insurance scheme.

He said that the scheme offers comprehensive insurance coverage, and in the 2023-24 fiscal year alone, farmers and orchardists in Kinnaur district received compensation exceeding Rs 14 crore.

Negi identified free trade agreements and adverse weather conditions as the biggest threats to the apple industry, noting that these factors are causing significant losses to orchardists.

Earlier, raising the issue under Rule 62, Rathore said that the state's apple-based economy valued at over Rs 6,000 crore is in crisis due to the sale of spurious Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) in the market.

He alleged that the sector is being consistently neglected in the state, resulting in a substantial reduction in profits for orchardists and pointed out that PGRs sold in the open market contain chemicals banned abroad.

Terming the influx of these banned chemicals from abroad a conspiracy, he demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.

He also questioned the import of rootstock, asking why any nation would share its latest varieties with us and said that the country is being made a dumping ground for obsolete varieties.

Rathore asked what Nauni (Solan)-based Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry was doing regarding research on rootstock.

He emphasised that since our climate and soil differ from those abroad, research on rootstock should be conducted within our own soil and climatic conditions.

He further demanded a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 15 per kilogram, an increase of Rs 3 per kilogram for apples and urged that orchardists not be required to submit land-related documents when selling up to 200 bags of produce under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS). PTI BPL BAL BAL