Chinese agricultural authorities seized 1.53 billion yuan (US$196 million) worth of counterfeit agricultural production materials last year, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

The seizures would safeguard the interests of hundreds of millions farmers and save them money, said a ministry spokesman.

The office said the nationwide crackdown mainly focused on fake fertilizers, pesticides and seed during spring and autumn.

It said the ministry had also opened a hotline number -- 12316 -- to take farmers' complaints and launched a website to raise awareness of fake materials and expose the most serious counterfeit cases.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2007)