LAHORE - Cotton crop yield is likely to be marred in the upcoming season in the province as Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC) has failed to provide in time cottonseed to the growers due to mismanagement in the absence of Managing Director (MD), The Nation learnt on Wednesday. PSC Managing Director Muzafar Mehmood is on five-month leave for special training as well as for NIPA course from the last three months and is likely to take his charge in June 2010 while PSC Secretary Agri Marketing Farhan Aziz Khawaja is acting MD. However the farmer community seemed worried due to unavailability of cottonseed by the Punjab Seed Corporation as cotton-sowing season is about to begin, which compelled the farmers to purchase cotton seed from the private seed companies. Moreover by taking advantage of the occasion, the private seed companies started overcharging and plundering the farmers. The farmers complained that such private seed companies are charging more than double of the rate of cottonseed fixed by the government and the Punjab Seed Corporation authorities. They further complained that such private seed companies are selling substandard cottonseed in high rates, which would affect the cotton production in the upcoming season. In this regard, sources in the Punjab Seed Corporation said most of the private seed companies are working without the approval of the federal government and having no Federal Seed Certificate, required for establishing any private seed company. The sources further said that the government usually discourages the private seed companies but did not take any legal action against them and by taking advantage of such free hand government is selling substandard seeds and earning millions of rupees by overcharging from the farmers. They said Punjab Seed Corporation used to provide cottonseed to the growers in April but this year, the PSC could not purchase and provide cottonseed to them because of negligence of the acting management and staff of the department in the absence of head of the department. On the other hand, Deputy Managing Director PSC Dr Ajmal Haider talking to The Nation said that cottonseed is available with the PSC in abundance and provision of cottonseed to the farmers is continued. He said initially PSC stocked about 45 thousand maund of cottonseed last month and out of total major quantity of cottonseed has been provided to the farmers by the corporation while more cottonseed would be available with the PSC in May.