The Punjab government has decided to use advanced certification technology, including barcodes and QR codes, to ensure that farmers get genuine seeds of various crops. It described this step as another farmer-friendly initiative that will protect farmers from unscrupulous traders selling fake or low-quality seeds.

Encouraged by a successful project for potato crop seeds, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has approved deployment of advanced traceability certification through blockchain technology to ensure that farmers are not cheated with fake and uncertified seeds, according to a government statement here.

The new technology will help track the origin of the seeds to ensure that farmers get genuine and certified seed, besides eradicating the menace of spurious and low-quality seeds that have caused extensive damage to the crops in the past, said the chief minister.