Shimla, Aug. 25 -- Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Tuesday cautioned farmers and orchardists against fake Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) being sold in the open market and urged them to use only authorised and branded agricultural inputs. Replying to a calling attention motion moved by Congress MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore under Rule 62 in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly regarding quality of fungicides and pesticides being supplied to farmers and orchardists, Negi admitted that complaints regarding spurious PGRs had been received for several years.
He said the state government had licensed around 500 shops for the sale of pesticides and fungicides and had also provided them with schedules for spraying various chemicals.
However, some ...