Beej Nigam, a state-owned nodal agency, which distributes hybrid seeds has raised it's selling prices by 30 to 50 per cent. Taking advantage of the situation some private seed companies offer inferior materials at higher rates, reports said.

According to leading farmers, selling prices for hybrid cotton seeds registered the steepest hike of almost 50 per cent. Sanker-6 sold at Rs 340 per a 750-gram bag, while Sanker-8 and 10 are sold at Rs 460 and Rs 420 respectively. The official sources at Beej Nigam said that selling prices have been increased due to higher expenditure for the research and development. However, farmers feel that such a claim is false. They, say that the Nigam has increased the selling prices of cotton and sesame while it groundnut seeds saw no price hike.

As faras offtake is concerned, groundnut tops the list with 200 tonnes of the seed having been already sold. Lifting is still continuing. In case of the cotton and sesame seed 10 tonnes of each has been sold. Among pulses, 2.5 tonne of arhar seed has been sold, said a dealer. For the other pulses, purchase would start, once the wet spell began.

Meanwhile, some private firm are selling inferior seeds as improved varieties, it is reported. If the state quality control department will take a loot in to the matter, many scams might be unearthed, said trade sources.

Irked by the sharp price-rise, farmers have demanded that the state government should give subsidies to help the farmers as the increase in prices of pesticides and labor wages have made farming an unprofitable proposition.

Among oilseeds, groundnut and castorseed are likely to top the list, while rapesed sowing may suffer a setback, owing to unremunerative prices. In the Saurashtra region, groundnut may attract highest sowing. Castorseed would top thelist in the north Gujarat, due to higher prices. At present it is sold around Rs 360 per 20 kg, at a whopping premium of Rs 130 over rapeseed, it's traditional rival. Last year the state reaped a bumper crop but lower prices have forced some farmers to retain the goods. In the northern belt castor, cotton and rapeseed are major crop.

In the secondary oilseeds, sowing of sesamseed is likely to increase as it fetched good prices. Sesameseed sold at Rs 46,000 per tonne FOB Kandla, although the goods were damaged by rains in some parts. Japan and Korea are major buyers of sesame. It is also widely consumed in some traditional sweets. Sowing of sunflower, another minor crop, will be decided, after the showers start.