Farmer organizations are urging Parliament to reconsider the Draft Seeds Bill, 2025, claiming it imposes high compliance costs on small seed savers while favoring large corporations. The bill, intended to replace the 1966 Act, is facing pushback over fears that it may restrict traditional seed-saving practices and increase corporate control over India's agricultural biodiversity.
Farmer organizations met with Members of Parliament in New Delhi on August 5 to voice strong opposition to the proposed Draft Seeds Bill, 2025. The Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch (BBSM), representing the coalition, argued that the new legislation, if passed in its current form, would jeopardize the rights of Indian farmers to save and exchange traditional seeds while potentially handing greater control to large seed companies.
The government has framed the draft legislation as a reform meant to replace the outdated Seed Act of 1966. Its stated objectives include enhancing seed quality, curbing the distribution of spurious seeds, and improving the ease of doing business through centralized accreditation and QR-code traceability. However, critics argue that the methodology proposed for these goals creates an uneven playing field.
Concerns Over Compliance Costs
A primary friction point is the requirement for mandatory registration of seed varieties. Farmer representatives contend that this provision imposes complex paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles. While large seed corporations possess the legal and financial resources to navigate these compliance requirements, smaller community seed banks and individual farmers may find them impossible to manage. Critics argue this effectively forces traditional seed systems into the background, favoring standardized, commercially produced seeds.
Beyond domestic provisions, farmer groups are worried about the influence of international trade negotiations. Specifically, there is concern regarding the European Union and the United States pushing for regulations aligned with the UPOV 1991 Act. This international convention grants significant legal protections to new plant varieties and favors commercial breeders, often restricting the ability of farmers to save their own seeds. The BBSM warned that India's potential alignment with such standards, combined with possible amendments to the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (PPVFRA), could erode local control over agricultural assets.
Regulatory Gaps and Industry Concentration
The discussion also highlighted worries regarding gene-edited crops. Farmer groups pointed out that the current regulatory framework allows some gene-edited crops to bypass the stringent biosafety assessments required for genetically modified organisms. They argue this creates a regulatory blind spot that could facilitate the rapid, unchecked introduction of private varieties into the market, potentially displacing indigenous crop diversity similar to the shifts observed after the introduction of Bt cotton.
From an agricultural sector perspective, the bill represents a potential shift in the operating environment for both public and private seed entities. If the legislation introduces strict registration and testing protocols, companies will face higher compliance costs, which could lead to market consolidation. Conversely, the implementation of a 'common knowledge' registry, as suggested by farmer groups, would offer legal protection to over 460,000 samples held by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources. The debate highlights the ongoing tension between modernizing agricultural regulation for quality control and protecting the informal seed economy that sustains a large portion of rural India.
The bill's introduction in Parliament remains uncertain, and it is not currently slated for immediate passage in the ongoing session. Future parliamentary debates and the outcome of public consultations will be the primary monitorables for stakeholders in the agriculture and seed industries.