{"id":75105,"date":"2025-11-26T11:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T06:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=75105"},"modified":"2025-11-26T11:37:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T06:07:35","slug":"draft-seeds-bill-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/draft-seeds-bill-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Draft Seeds Bill 2025 &#8211; Key Provisions Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Seeds Bill Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Agriculture Ministry has released the Draft Seeds Bill 2025, inviting public comments until December 11.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill aims to modernise seed regulation by amending the <\/span><b>Seeds Act, 1966<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><b>Seeds (Control) Order 1983<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ensuring quality seeds for farmers while reducing compliance burdens for the seed industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Context and Rationale Behind the Seeds Bill 2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s seed sector has undergone a massive transformation since the 1960s, through advances in biotechnology, hybridisation, commercial seed processing, and international trade.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Agriculture Ministry, in 2023-24, the national requirement for seeds was 462.31 lakh quintals, while availability reached 508.60 lakh quintals, creating a surplus of 46.29 lakh quintals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Industry associations have argued that the 1966 Act is outdated and ill-equipped to deal with new scientific and commercial realities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Regulatory Architecture Proposed Under the Bill<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Clear Definition of Stakeholders<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill defines key actors, farmer, dealer, distributor, and producer, as separate entities engaged in seed use and trade. This creates regulatory clarity across the supply chain.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Central and State Seed Committees<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two statutory bodies are proposed:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Central Seed Committee (27 members)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State Seed Committees (15 members)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Central Committee will recommend standards such as:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minimum germination levels,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Genetic and physical purity,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traits and seed health norms,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additional quality parameters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The State Committees will advise on the registration of seed producers, dealers, nurseries, and processing units.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Quality Control and Registration Systems<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mandatory Registration of Seed Processing Units<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All processing units must register with the State government. This ensures quality control but may increase operational costs for small seed entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ease compliance for companies operating across multiple States, a <\/span><b>Central Accreditation System<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> may be introduced, merit-based, transparent, and uniform.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>National Seed Variety Register<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill creates the office of a Registrar responsible for maintaining a National Register of Seed Varieties under the Central Seed Committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Field trials to determine the Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) are also standardised in the Bill.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Seed Testing Laboratories<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Central and State seed testing laboratories will be strengthened to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analyse genetic purity,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assess germination and health parameters,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assist in compliance monitoring.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Role of Seed Inspectors<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seed inspectors will have search-and-seizure powers under the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/bharatiya-nagarik-suraksha-second-sanhita\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita<\/strong><\/a>, ensuring stronger enforcement against violations.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Offences and Penalties<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new draft significantly revises the penalty framework compared to the 2019 draft.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill classifies offences as: <\/span><b>Trivial<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Minor<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Major<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with corresponding penalties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stronger penal architecture reflects the government\u2019s intent to curb seed fraud and maintain quality standards.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Farmers\u2019 Rights and New Safeguards<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill reiterates that farmers retain the right to save, use, exchange, and sell farm-saved seeds, except under a brand name. This aligns with long-standing protections under Indian law.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The draft also links seed regulation to the <\/span><b>Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers\u2019 Rights (PPV&amp;FR) Act 2001<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, attempting to ensure that quality norms and intellectual property rights are harmonised.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Concerns Raised by Farmers\u2019 Organisations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers\u2019 unions, including the All India Kisan Sabha, have criticised the Bill for:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potential increase in seed costs, enabling large companies to engage in \u201cpredatory pricing.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Risk to seed sovereignty, as centralisation may favour multinational and domestic seed corporations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dilution of biodiversity protections, arguing that the Bill conflicts with global treaties such as the CBD and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food &amp; Agriculture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a \u201ccorporatised regulatory structure\u201d that may overshadow the PPV&amp;FR Act\u2019s progressive farmer-centric provisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These groups demand that the Bill must complement, not undermine, India\u2019s biodiversity and farmers\u2019 rights legal architecture.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/what-does-the-draft-seeds-bill-entail-explained\/article70323160.ece#:~:text=The%20Bill%20provides%20a%20regulatory,material%20under%20a%20brand%20name.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Draft Seeds Bill 2025 proposes a modern regulatory framework for India\u2019s seed sector, balancing quality assurance with farmers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":75135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,3889,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-75105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-seeds-bill","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}