Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh): Farmers in Navra and Dabhiyakheda villages of the Nepanagar region are facing serious losses after their watermelon crop turned out different from what they were promised. They had been assured capsule-shaped watermelons but harvested round ones instead and traders are now refusing to buy the produce.
Farmer Nitin Kashinath Choudhary from Navra village planted 40,000 watermelon saplings using seeds purchased from an agro-agency in Burhanpur. The agency had promised long, capsule-shaped watermelons weighing around five kilograms each. However, when the crop was ready, the watermelons were round and weighed only one to 2.5 kilograms. As market demand is higher for capsule-shaped watermelons, traders have refused to buy the round produce.
Farmer Amin Amir Sheikh from Dabhiyakheda said he has already spent around Rs two lakh on the crop but is unable to sell it.
The seed seller, however, said he sold only what the manufacturing company supplied and claimed the fault does not lie with him.
The affected farmers are planning to file a complaint with the district administration over the alleged seed fraud and are demanding compensation for their losses.
