Seeds

11th ITPGRFA meet postpones key decisions on expanding plant list

The meeting had entered a crucial phase after the chair of ITPGRFA proposed a compromise document where it wanted expansion of the MLS to include all crops and revision of the transfer agreement

Civil groups urge govt to reject compromise draft at Plant Treaty talks

The treaty establishes a multilateral system that provides access to a list of important crops for research and breeding, while ensuring that benefits from their use are shared among the signatories

Seeds sector faces major shake-up as India readies new laws and treaties

'India's seeds sector heads into a decisive phase as new draft laws, amendments to plant-variety rules, and a global treaty converge to reshape how varieties are regulated, protected and shared'

Govt releases draft Seeds Bill 2025, draws flak over farmers' compensation

Critics say it's silent on farmers' compensation, but welcome emphasis on traceability and price regulation

Govt to bring stringent seed law in Budget session 2026: Shivraj Chouhan

The government plans to introduce legislation with stringent provisions to regulate seed quality during the budget session of Parliament early next year, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday. Addressing an event on Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs), Chouhan said the amendments are aimed at ensuring quality inputs for the farming community. The minister said about 46 per cent of the country's population still depends on farming for their livelihood, and ensuring better income to farmers is a key government priority. "We are going to bring the seed law in the budget session of parliament (early 2026)," Chouhan said, adding that there would be stringent provisions to check the sale and distribution of substandard quality seeds. He said genetically modified seeds are not allowed, and research is underway to develop better varieties. The amendments to the Seeds Act at the central government level remain under active development but have not yet been formally

Industry body hails agri input GST cuts, seeks similar relief for seeds

The Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) on Saturday welcomed the GST Council's decision to slash rates on key agricultural inputs while urging similar relief for the seed sector. The move to cut GST on fertiliser raw materials, bio-pesticides, micronutrients and farm machinery will substantially lower input costs and create economic momentum, the industry body said. "This is a transformative step for Indian agriculture. The government has directly empowered farmers and strengthened the rural economy," said Ajai Rana, FSII Chairman and CEO of Savannah Seeds. However, FSII flagged that similar reforms are overdue for the seed sector. Currently, GST exemption on seeds denies the industry input tax credit (ITC) benefits on most inputs and services. Items like packaging, logistics, warehousing and chemical treatments attract standard GST rates, creating a higher tax burden on seeds versus other agri inputs with concessional rates. The body urged the government to either fully .

Centre to expand area under DSR rice to 40% by 2030, solution in the weeds

Weed management remains the biggest challenge in the adoption of the direct seeded rice method; to counter this, popularisation of herbicide-resistant rice is critical, say experts

Chouhan calls for strict action against sale of spurious seeds, fertilisers

He pointed out that "farmers often complain about receiving poor-quality inputs, resulting in significant losses"

Vishwas Agri Seeds' Rs 26 crore SME IPO to open Mar 21: Check issue details

The brand "Vishwas" enjoys a strong presence in the market, the company claims, as over the years it has developed a robust network of distributors across states like Gujarat, Rajashtan and MP

Rajasthan govt to give free seed kits to boost millets production

Some of the hotels and restaurants in the Rajasthan are also serving dishes made with millets after a request made by the CM

'Wheat sown in 30.86 mn HA, climate resilient seeds planted in 60% area'

After facing loss due to terminal heatwave last year, more farmers are cultivating climate resilient wheat varieties which has been sown in more than 60 per cent of the planted area of 30.86 million hectares so far, according to agriculture commissioner P K Singh. Wheat is the main rabi (winter) crop, sowing of which normally begins in November and harvesting is done from March-April. As per the agriculture ministry data, wheat sown area stood at 30.86 million hectares till December 22 of the ongoing rabi season, slightly lower than 31.44 million hectares in the year-ago period. "This is because there was a delay in wheat sowing in some parts where paddy harvesting got late. Otherwise, wheat sowing is progressing well," Singh told PTI. Keeping in mind the terminal heat problem that wheat farmers faced last year, the government this year has promoted climate resilient wheat varieties and kept a target to cover 60 per cent of the total cropped area, he said. "We have exceeded the ta

BBSSL will strive to protect India's indigenous seeds, says Amit Shah

Highlighting the need to provide quality certified seeds to farmers, Shah said that BBSSL has been established to boost domestic production as well as exports of certified seeds

Availability of seeds for rabi season 20.7% more than requirement: Agri Min

The availability of seeds for sowing in the 2023-24 rabi (winter) season for crops like wheat is estimated to be 159.03 lakh quintal, 20.70 per cent higher than the country's overall requirement, according to agriculture ministry data. The overall seeds requirement is estimated to be 131.75 lakh quintal for the 2023-24 rabi season. Sowing of rabi crops begins from October, while harvesting starts from March/April. Wheat is the main rabi crop. As per the ministry's data, the availability of wheat seeds is estimated to be 123.43 lakh quintal, as against the requirement of 102.63 lakh quintal for the rabi season of this year. The availability of sorghum would be 1.04 lakh quintal for the rabi season, as against the requirement of 0.74 lakh quintal. In case of rabi pulses, the availability of chickpea seeds would be 25.04 lakh quintal, as against the requirement of 21.38 lakh quintal, while the seeds supply of black gram would be 1.49 lakh quintal, as against 1.14 lakh quintal in the

Rajasthan gives a fillip to millet production, distributes free seed kits

Under the scheme, over 830,000 mini kits of high-yielding millet seeds were distributed by the state government for Kharif 2022

Over 200K farmers in Rajasthan become self-dependent by producing seeds

Looking at the success of the scheme, the chief minister in the last Budget doubled the size of the plan and announced benefiting 50,000 farmers

Free seeds under 'Mukhyamantri Krishak Sathi Yojana' helping women farmers

Agriculture department under this scheme in the past four years in the Rabi and Kharif seasons had distributed mini-kits of free seeds to more than 5.430 million women farmers in the state

Good quality seeds can boost agricultural production by 15-20%: IISS

The world needs to produce seeds as per market demand and by keeping in mind the effects of climate change," Sanjay Kumar said

Bayer CropScience okays sale of traded seeds biz to Crystal Crop Protection

Bayer CropScience Ltd on Wednesday approved sale of its traded seeds business, along with property in Telangana, to Crystal Crop Protection Ltd for Rs 62 crore

Easy-to-digest soy, protein-rich quinoa among 21 seeds to notified soon

The crops will take 2-3 years to reach farmer fields

Cyclone to Covid: SEEDS co-founders explain how India can fight disasters

Gupta and Sharma talk to Geetanjali Krishna about why India is always in the midst of some disaster or the other and how people could build resilience