Farmers claim rice seeds adulterated

       Farmers in the Northeast are claiming they have been supplied with substandard Hom Mali rice seeds by the Agriculture Ministry, the opposition Puea Thai Party says.
       Anudit Nakorntap, a Puea Thai MP for Bangkok, yesterday said the party's anti-corruption team had received complaints from farmers in northeastern provinces claiming they had been given Hom Mali rice seeds adulterated with lower-quality rice seeds.
       Mr Anudit said the seeds were distributed as part of the ministry's toxicfree Hom Mali rice production promotion scheme.
       Fifty-thousand sacks of Hom Mali rice seeds weighing 1,250 tonnes had been supplied to farmers this year and grown on about 300,000 rai, he said.
       The seeds were handed out in April to farmers, mainly in Yasothon and Udon Thani, by government coalition MPs.
       They planted the rice but found about half their crops produced grains early,Mr Anudit said.
       The early grain production yielded low quality rice and the farmers could not harvest it because not all their rice was producing grains at the same time.
       Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut said the rice scheme had been proposed and implemented by former Yasothon governor Khachornsak Singhatokul, not by the ministry.
       The provincial administration office handled the rice seeds purchase worth 26 million baht. He had asked the Rice Department to look into the opposition's claims.
       DNA testing could prove whether the rice seeds were genuine, he said.
       Prasert Gosalvitra, the Rice Department director-general, said he would order the Bureau of Rice Seeds to investigate.