Maharashtra’s agriculture department has directed seed companies, including state-run Mahabeej, to compensate soybean farmers whose losses from poor germination have been verified through valid panchanamas, giving the firms 15 days to comply or face legal action.
The directive, issued on October 16 after multiple hearings by the Directorate of Quality and Inputs, follows complaints from more than 22,000 farmers, largely in Vidarbha and Marathwada. Around 1,000 complaints were filed against Mahabeej alone, according to the report.
Sunil Borkar, director of quality and inputs, said seed companies had questioned the authenticity of several panchanamas prepared by district agriculture offices. However, the department told the firms to provide relief in cases where the crop damage reports were found to be genuine.
“Although these firms have raised objections to the accuracy of panchanamas conducted by district agriculture offices statewide, we have directed them to assist affected farmers whose panchanamas are genuine. Not all panchanamas are disputed. If the companies fail to act within a fortnight, we will consider legal action,” Borkar told the Times of India.
The department has also suspended the licence of a seed company accused of repackaging and selling last year’s seed stock under a new brand without the mandatory testing. The report did not name the company or specify the duration of the licence suspension.
The compensation directive comes as soybean growers across key cultivation regions face losses linked to deficient rainfall. Soybean cultivation exceeded 50 lakh hectares during the current kharif season after strong prices in the previous year encouraged farmers to expand planting. Drought-like conditions have since affected large parts of the state’s soybean belt, with some farmers reporting near-total crop failure.
Farmers who experienced poor germination were also forced to resow their fields, increasing their input costs. A senior agriculture official said verified claimants should receive assistance without delay, as many growers were facing severe production losses and preparing for the ongoing rabi season.
Latur farmer Sunil Bhure told the Times of India that he had to resow after Mahabeej seeds failed to germinate adequately. He said deficient rainfall later worsened the damage and left him unable to afford planting a rabi crop. Bhure said reimbursement of the Rs 8,000 he spent on seeds would provide some relief, adding that he had not received assistance from the state government.
Farmer groups have sought a transparent and time-bound compensation process, along with greater accountability for seed companies and regulators. Experts cited in the report called for field inspections and proper documentation to establish whether crop failure resulted from seed quality, rainfall conditions or a combination of factors.
The report also underlined the distinction between drought relief and compensation for verified seed-quality failures. Activist Vinod Tathod of Akola said deficient rainfall should not prevent assistance where seed defects had been independently established. Activist Vijay Jawandhia of Nagpur said the effectiveness of the government’s move would depend on how quickly verified claims were settled and whether legal action followed against non-compliant companies.
The agriculture department’s immediate next step is for seed firms to process compensation for farmers whose panchanamas have been accepted as genuine within the 15-day deadline.
