Infected Wheat From Australia Causes Concern

The agriculture ministry has expressed concern over certain amount of contaminating weeds found in the wheat imported from Australia but said the situation was not alarming.

If we had found the exotic weeds as dangerous that could contaminate the agriculture fields in the country we would have outrightly rejected the imported wheat, sources in the ministry said. Although the situation is not alarming, we would have been happy if the weed seeds were not there in the imported wheat, sources said.

We have decided to take a calculated risk by allowing the wheat into the country as the dwarf bunt and ergot factors were within the tolerance level and there was not much chances of any harmful weed finding its way in the Indian fields.

As a precautionary measure, the ministry has decided to allow supply of the consignment only to the non-wheat producing areas like south India and the metropolitan cities.