The government will hold more discussions with farmers‘ organisations and other stakeholders on seed and pesticide Bills, before they are tabled in Parliament, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday.
Chouhan conducted consultations with 20 farmers’ organisations to obtain inputs for the proposed legislation.
“There is a need for new seed and pesticide Acts, as many changes have taken place since that legislation was adopted in 1966,” Chouhan said.
He said initially the seed bill will be presented in Parliament.
The draft Seed Bill, 2025 was put up for public consultation until December 11, 2025 and the ministry received 18,000 submissions from various stakeholders.
Under existing provisions, certification of seeds is not mandatory while private players are currently selling seed as ‘truthfully labeled’. These seeds do not fall under the purview of the seed certification department.
The objective of the legislation was to ensure traceability through registration of seed companies and regulating prices.
The proposed legislation unveiled in November, last year was aimed at incentivising investment in research and development (R&D) by ‘genuine’ players while bringing in much-needed regulation in the sector, major seed associations have stated.
The new legislation will replace the decades-old Seed Act, 1966 and the Seed (Control) Order, 1983. Earlier several attempts had been made to introduce changes in the existing provision of legislation.
“Our key focus is that farmers get quality and high yielding seed at remunerative prices, we will be bringing the proposed legislation in Parliament soon,” Chouhan said.
Currently India’s seed industry is estimated at $ 3.82 billion.
The draft bill seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials available in the market, ensure farmers’ access to high-quality seeds at affordable rates, curb the sale of spurious and poor-quality seeds, protect farmers from losses, liberalise seed imports to promote innovation and access to global varieties, according to an official note.
The Bill proposes mandatory registration of seed varieties, while in the existing legislation there was no provision of compulsory registration. However, existing varieties notified under section 5 of the existing Seeds Act, 1966, shall be deemed to be registered under the new law.