Seeds Bill to protect farmers, not open doors to foreign products: Chouhan

The new Seeds Bill will strengthen the domestic regulatory system rather than grant foreign products unchecked access to Indian markets, said Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday.

 

The Bill — expected to be tabled before Parliament next month — increases the fine for selling substandard seeds from Rs 500 to Rs 30 lakh. Deliberately selling or manufacturing such seeds could lead to imprisonment of up to three years, he said.

 

The Bill replaces the decades-old Seeds Act of 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order of 1983. Chouhan dismissed concerns about the Bill, asserting that it protects farmers’ rights to grow, sow, save, exchange and sell seeds.

   

“There is a misconception being spread that this will affect traditional seeds. That's not true,” he said. The Bill’s provisions do not apply to farmers and farm varieties.

 

“Farmers can sow their own seeds. Farmers can give seeds to other farmers,” he said, adding that the practice of farmers borrowing seeds at planting time and later returning one and a quarter times the amount will continue without disruption.

 

Seed Bills were last changed in the 1960s, though there have been several attempts since then to make tangible legislative changes.

 

The Agriculture Ministry is studying 9,000 applications that offer suggestions for the draft Bill. The government aims to introduce the legislation in the first phase of the Budget session next month.

 

For seeds sold by companies, the Bill introduces traceability measures. “If it is found that the seeds are substandard, or there is no germination or any other problem arises, then punitive action will be taken,” Chouhan said.