Bill On Farmers & #8217; Right To Sell Seeds Welcomed

Gene Campaign, a ginger group for safeguarding genetic resources, has welcomed the decision to allow farmers to sell self-produced seeds under the new legislation on plant variety protection and farmers' rights.

The long-pending Bill for this purpose was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 9 and is now awaiting approval by the Rajya Sabha.

Talking to newspersons, Gene Campaign convenor Suman Sahai said this would be the first legislation in the world that gives the farmers the right to sell the seeds of even the protected varieties without, of course, packing or branding them.

The Gene Campaign, as also several other non-governmental organisations, have been fighting for such a legal provision for a long time.

The original draft of the Bill, floated by the government around 1993, did not have adequate protections for the farmers' rights and concentrated basically on guarding the plant breeders' rights and the varieties evolved by them. Most of the subsequent and revised drafts also talked only about the farmers' right to use, sow, share and exchange the seeds but fell short of allowing them to sell them.

The final draft that has actually been passed by the Lok Sabha has added the right to sell seeds. Section 39, clause (iv) states: " the farmer shall be deemed to be entitled to save, use, sow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under this Act in the same manner as he was entitled before the coming into force of this Act".

Sahai feared that the seed companies might try to get the Bill scuttled in the Rajya Sabha. She urged all concerned to thwart such attempts and support this much needed statutory protection for the farmers