Haryana defends German fungicide, trashes Khemka

The Haryana government on Saturday defended a German multinational's fungicide stating that it effectively controlled three wheat crop diseases - Loose Smut, Flag Smut and Karnal Bunt. Principal secretary (agriculture) Roshan Lal also said that the Raxil 2DS fungicide, manufactured by the Germany-based Bayer CropScience, was being used to treat certified wheat seeds based on the recommendations of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) in Hisar.

The sale of the fungicide had been questioned by the managing director of the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation (HSDC), IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had claimed that the German firm had not registered with the Central Insecticides Board for treating Karnal Bunt - a mandatory requirement. Khemka has also banned the department from placing any further orders for Raxil 2DS till the government sends him clarifications on certain issues he had raised.

On Saturday, the government responded. "I shall submit a case in this regard to the state government and it would be up to the government to take action on this issue. HAU had recommended Raxil in 2003 and the government purchased it in 2010," Roshan Lal said.

Lal, who was accompanied by HAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Krishan Singh Khokhar, said that a committee headed by him, which includes Khemka, finalises the programme of what variety of seed needs to be grown in the next three years. "When the purchase of Raxil was finalised by the High Powered Purchase Committee, Mr Ashok Khemka, managing director of HSDC, was present in the meeting. He prepared proceedings of the meeting and did not raise any objection at that time," Lal added.

HAU Vice-Chancellor K S Khokhar also defended the effectiveness of the fungicide.