Officials in Mehsana district sealed warehouses in the Kadi area on the night of October 11 after surprise checks turned up more than 1.58 lakh bags of cottonseed cake suspected to be adulterated or past its usable life. The state government said samples have gone to laboratories and that further action depends on those results. The single largest stock, at a warehouse on the Linch-Ambasan road, runs to about 63.41 lakh kg and is valued at roughly Rs 25 crore, according to an IANS report carried by Social News XYZ.
Accounts differ on the count. IANS lists four sealed warehouses, at Aldesan (two), Nagrasan and Linch. Rakhewal Daily reported raids on five godowns, four at Aldesan and one at Linch, and said inspectors drew samples from several manufacturers and brands. Both agree the stock sits in Kadi taluka and that nothing has been proven until the lab reports arrive.
Who moved, and why Kadi
Animal Husbandry Minister Jitu Vaghani ordered the inspections after a specific complaint, IANS reported. Teams from the district animal husbandry office, the Food and Drugs Control Administration, the Kadi mamlatdar’s office and veterinary services carried them out under the Mehsana Collector.
The location matters. Kadi is one of India’s main trading hubs for cottonseed oilcake, known locally as khol, and several of the sealed warehouses are reported to be linked to NCDEX, the commodity exchange that trades cottonseed oilcake futures. This is an old sore point. In 2016, cotton seed crushers from Kadi complained to SEBI that oilcake stocks in exchange warehouses were substandard, and PTI reported via Business Standard that the regulator planned to inspect NCDEX warehouses in Gujarat. A decade later, the question of what sits in those sheds and how long it has sat there is back.
The new feed law gets its first test
The raids come a month after the Gujarat Assembly unanimously passed the Gujarat Livestock Feed, Poultry Feed and Mineral Mixture Bill on September 10. ThePrint reported that the law makes licences compulsory for anyone producing, storing or selling feed, ties manufacturers to BIS and ICAR standards, and sets fines of up to Rs 5 lakh for substandard feed or misleading labels. If adulterated feed kills an animal, the law provides for seven to ten years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. IANS reported that the law has received the Governor’s assent and that the state expects to implement it shortly.
That timing creates a legal wrinkle. If the rules are not yet notified, officials may have to pursue any case under older provisions, such as food safety and cheating laws, rather than the new act. Watch for how the state frames the charges if the samples fail.
What it means for dairy farmers
Mehsana is milk country. The district union, Dudhsagar Dairy, is among the largest in the Amul network, and cottonseed cake is a staple concentrate that north Gujarat farmers feed buffaloes and cows to keep yields up. Cake that has gone stale or been bulked up with filler cuts milk output and can make animals sick, and the farmer pays for it twice: once at the shop and again at the collection centre.
Farmers who buy khol in bulk can protect themselves in simple ways for now. Buy from licensed dealers, keep the bill, and check the bag for a batch number and manufacture date. If cattle fall ill after a change of feed, report it to the taluka veterinary officer, who can draw a sample.
What to watch
- The lab results on the Kadi samples, and whether the state names the brands or warehouse operators involved.
- Whether NCDEX or its warehouse service providers explain how expired stock stayed in storage.
- Notification of rules under the new feed law, which will decide how quickly licensing and testing reach village-level dealers.
Sources: IANS via Social News XYZ, Rakhewal Daily, ThePrint, Business Standard (PTI)
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.