AGRICULTURE DEPT. SOLD DEFECTIVE SEEDS, bean farmers complain

By Kanchanakumara Ariyadasa
Vegetable farmers in the Matale District who cultivated beans complain of crop failure in the Yala season this year, due to substandard bean seeds supplied them by the Department of Agriculture under the government’s agricultural development programme.

They said they used the seeds supplied by the Agricultural Department expecting a bumper harvest as promised by the officials. Farmers in Konagahawela, Galabodda, Dammanthenna and Moragolla, who used the bean seeds distributed by the Agricultural Department, are now unable to settle their cultivation loans.

G.G.Wimalasena, a farmer from Galabodda, said, “We were jubilant when the bean plants began to flower. We expected a bumper harvest that would bring us an unprecedentedly large income this year. However, I was able to collect only two kilos of beans from three kilos of seeds. I incurred heavy losses from vegetable cultivation this year.”


Somalatha Hemapala, another farmer, had cultivated two acres of beans this year and lost heavily due to the crops failing: “It was with great difficulty that we protected our crops from the wild elephants. All our labour was in vain, and today we are facing hardships without the means to settle our cultivation loans.

The officers had distributed substandard bean seeds and created a serious problem for us. We depend on the income from vegetable cultivation to feed and clothe our children. We are in debt this year. Formerly we used to buy seeds in the open market. This time we used the seeds distributed by the officers of the Agrarian Centre under the government’s agricultural development programme -- and incurred heavy losses”

G.G.Dayaratne, a farmer from Moragolla, said, “The retail price of a kilo of butter beans is Rs.120. We could have earned a large sum if the crops hadn’t failed. The Agricultural Department is responsible for our predicament. We bought bean seeds from the Agricultural Instructors.”
Meanwhile, Prasanna Pallemulla, the Deputy Director of Agriculture, Matale, admitted that the allegations of the farmers were true.

He said that the department had distributed bean seeds at a subsidised price. We informed the Agricultural Department of the crop failure and of the hardships faced by the farmers. The Department has not yet taken a decision regarding this,” he said.

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