Like its previous incarnations, the draft Seeds Bill 2025 is generating opposition on various counts. Seeds are critical to agricultural operations and the government, has been trying over the years to regulate various aspects of seed production and distribution.
A brief history of Seed Bills
The Seeds Act was enacted by the Central Government in 1966. But it was preceded by the establishment of National Seeds Corporation in 1963. The Seeds Rules were notified in 1968 to implement the Seeds Act. But it was only three years later, on October 2, 1969, that the Seeds Act, 1966 came into force.
Seed was classified as an essential commodity and the Seed (Control) Order was issued by the Central Government in 1983 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to regulate the trade and business of seeds. It made licensing of seed dealers compulsory.
Seeds Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 9, 2004. It was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture which submitted its report on September 26, 2006. The Standing Committee recommended deletion of several provisions of the Bill 2004.
In 2019, another draft of Seed Bill was circulated. It incorporated some recommendations of the Standing Committee but this time also, a consensus could not be reached.
Draft Seeds Bill 2025
The draft Seeds Bill 2025, circulated on November 13, 2025 proposes several changes in the existing laws and regulations.
In this article I examine a few key provisions in the draft Seeds Bill, 2025 and compare them with the Seeds Bill, 2004.
Comparison with Seeds Bill 2004
The Seeds Bill 2004 clearly mentioned that:
1) The farmers will have the right to use or sell their farm seeds and planting materials, but they will not be allowed to sell seeds under a brand name. Moreover, the seeds and planting material sold by them were to conform to the minimum standards applicable to registered seeds.
2) The seed producer, distributor or vendor was bound to disclose the expected performance of seeds sold by them under certain given conditions. If the seed fails to perform to expected standards, the farmer was entitled to claim compensation from the dealer, distributor or vendor under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
3) Every seed producer and dealer, and horticulture nursery must be registered with the state government.
4) The Bill prohibited the use of terminator technology. A farmer planting seeds containing terminator technology cannot use the seed from his crop for the next generation. He must purchase new seeds every season. It is important that the terminator technology is not permitted under Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPVFR) Act, 2001.
It was felt that the farmers may find it difficult to meet same standards of quality as are applicable to seeds which are commercially produced by Government or the private companies.
The provisions in draft Seeds Bill 2025 on these points are as under:
# This bill also retains the provision that the seeds sold by the farmers also have to meet the minimum quality standards. This is in conformity with the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 (PPV&FR Act) which was a landmark legislation guaranteeing a unique, sui generis (one of a kind) system for balancing breeders' rights (mostly seed companies) and farmers' traditional practices. The draft Seeds Bill seeks to allow the farmers to use, save, and share their seeds, even if they belong to a variety that has been registered by a seed company.
However, the farmers are not allowed to sell seeds in a package having a brand name. This provision in the draft Seeds Bill 2025 is similar to the same in PPV&FR Act, 2001.
Also, there is a genuine fear that Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and community seed banks (e.g. Navdanya, Sahaja Samrudha etc.) may be considered commercial entities, and they may not get the protection available to farmers to conserve and sell a diverse and quite often, indigenous varieties of seeds.
These protections must be conserved in the interest of seed sovereignty of India.
# The Draft Seeds Bill 2025 has a provision that the Central Government may specify that the label on the packet or container must indicate expected performance of the seed. But it does not have a provision enabling farmers to claim compensation in case of failure of seeds to perform to the expected standards.
Instead of relief mechanism under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the draft Seeds Bill provides for setting up an appellate mechanism through single or multi-person authorities dedicated to handling appeals. The powers of such appellate bodies are not clearly defined in the draft Bill. This is a crucial missing link.
# The Draft Bill states that every plant nursery, seed producer and seed producing unit, dealer and distributor shall obtain a registration certificate from the State Government.
But for companies operating in multiple states, it provides for accreditation by the Central Government. They will be required to submit the accreditation certificate to the State Registering Authority who shall record the accredited companies in the State Register and issue the corresponding registration number and certificate. Under the GST law, such companies will still have to register in every state in which they operate. I wish there was a similar provision in GST law for deemed registration in the States!
The provision for seed traceability through QR codes on packets is a welcome provision for tracking to identity spurious seeds.
# There is no specific provision in the Draft Seed Bill regarding terminator technology which can make seed sterile. A clear provision to this effect would be better.
End Remarks
Though the Centre does have powers to legislate on seeds, any law on agriculture, a state subject in the Constitution, should ideally be introduced in parliament after reaching a consensus with the States. One hopes that this time, the story of previous Seed Bills and the three farm laws (2020) will not be repeated and there will be meaningful consultation with the States.
(Siraj Hussain is a former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.)
Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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