Farming official held over wife's banned seed

An agricultural official from Henan province has been detained for abuse of power after he promoted a bannedseed managed by his wife, Dahe Daily reported Thursday.

Procurators said an investigation uncovered Liu Huihe, deputy chief of the Department of Agriculture in Fangxian county of Nanyang city, promoted a wheat seed Xinmai 26 which had already been vetoed as disastrous for the area's soil.

The official's wife is the manager of the state-owned grain company.

In September 2012, Liu issued a notice under the name of the county's agriculture department requesting all farmers to use the seed despite the fact that Nanyang city had cut Xinmai 26 from a list of 15 types of seeds good for the city's farmlands.

Liu even offered a 10-yuan subsidy for the seed as part of a promotion.

The wheat yield from 14 towns and villages in Fangxian county in 2013 is expected to drop by 91 million kilograms to 357 million from last year's 448 million.