The draft Seed Bill, 2025, unveiled last week, is expected to incentivise investmentin research and development (R&D) by ‘genuine’ players while bringing in much-needed regulation in the sector, major seed associations have stated.
“It brings in some harmonisation in the seed licensing, Currently, there is no differential between those companies who invest in research and developmentand those who only distribute seeds,” Ajay Rana, Chairman, Federation of Seed Industry of India and CEO & MD, Savannah Seeds, told FE
Rana said a mandatory quick response code (QR Code) or other mark generated through centralized seed traceability portal of the government on seed packet as mandated in the proposed legislation is expected to create barriers for fly by night operators in the industry.
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Currently as per the seed act, dealers, companies and distributors have to take seed dealer license to operate.
The proposed legislation will replace decades old Seed Act, 1966 and the Seed (control) order, 1983. Earlier several attempts have been made to introduce changes in the existing provision of legislations
Currently India seed industry is estimated at $ 3.82 billion,
Stating that legislation would create conducive eco-system for production of quality seeds by ‘genuine players’, Prabhakar Rao, president, National Seed Association of India, said “the legislation would expedite speedier release of new varieties developed through research and development which will benefit farmers to get climate resilient varieties quickly”.
However, the farmers group has stated that the proposed legislation does not compensate farmers against underperformance of seeds. “It does not have adequate legal safeguards of laws to prevent transgenic seeds from being imported and sold in India,” a farmer leader said.
Last week, the centre released a draft seed bil with the objective of ensuring traceability through registration of seed companies and regulating prices.
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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.
The provisions in draft legislation include ensuring farmer access to affordable high-quality seeds, eliminating spurious products from non-registered varieties, liberalising seed imports for innovation, and protecting farmer rights through transparent supply chains.
The proposed legislation aims to decriminalise minor offences to ease compliance burden while retaining stringent penalties for serious violations. Selling inferior quality seeds could invite a penalty of Rs 30 lakh and imprisonment for up to three years.
The draft bill, which has been put up for public consultation till December 11, 2025.
It proposes stringent penal provisions and has offences in three categories — trivial, minor and major. Among the major offences are supply of “any spurious seeds”; supply of seeds of non-registered kind or varieties; and “doing the Business without registration as dealer or distributor or producer or seed processing or plant nursery”.
Under the existing provisions, certification of seeds is not mandatory while private players are currently selling seed as ‘truthfully labeled’. This type of seed does not come under the purview of the department of seed certification. |
