The central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his third term, has initiated the process of introducing a critical agriculture-related law. The proposed law pertains to seeds, the most vital factor for farmers and the nation's food security. The central government had introduced three farm laws for agricultural reforms in 2020, but after a 13-month-long protest by farmers, the government repealed those laws in Parliament—a first-of-its-kind instance.
This time, however, the government appears to be moving more cautiously. Therefore, after releasing the draft of the new Seeds Bill 2025 on November 12, it sought feedback from all stakeholders and the general public until December 11. The bill is now expected to be introduced in Parliament and will replace the Seeds Act, 1966, and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983.
The scope of the Seeds Bill has been expanded to include horticulture and various types of planting materials. Furthermore, provisions have been made to facilitate the ease of doing seed business, alongside a strong emphasis on traceability to ensure the quality production of seeds. Deliberations regarding the new law are ongoing across the country, and there are indications that the government will have to make changes to the current draft to address various concerns and apprehensions.
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during his whirlwind tours across the country and discussions with farmers and scientists, has repeatedly stated that no compromise can be made on the quality of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, and legal changes will be enacted for this purpose. The new Seeds Bill appears to be the first major step in this direction.
The Ministry of Agriculture claims that the objective of the Seeds Bill 2025 is to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials and ensure the availability of quality seeds for farmers; curb the sale of spurious and poor quality seeds; liberalize imports of seeds and planting materials, besides protecting the rights of the farmers.
Rural World held extensive discussions with the country's most eminent agricultural scientists, experts, legal scholars, representatives of farmer organizations, and entrepreneurs associated with the seed business regarding the draft Seeds Bill. Based on these interactions, it is emerging that while a blueprint for the overall regulation of the seed sector has been presented, several provisions of the bill have triggered debate and concerns.
Specifically, regarding the significant emphasis placed on Ease of Doing Business. A senior policy expert told Rural World that it would be better if this initiative moved forward with farmers' interests and the country's food security at its core. The provisions in the new law granting a greater role and facilities to the private sector are being viewed as an attempt to increase private sector control in agriculture.
Broader Scope, Missing Links
The scope of the proposed law is quite comprehensive. Under the new law, registration of the entire seed supply chain—seed producers, processing units, dealers, distributors, and plant nurseries—will be mandatory. No one will be allowed to sell spurious or misbranded seeds. In addition to field crops, the new law also covers all seeds and planting materials, including horticulture, spices, tubers, bulbs, plantation crops, and tissue culture. Registration will be mandatory for the sale of any variety of seeds, with exemptions for exports and farmers’ varieties.
Some issues are evident in the draft bill. While the Seeds Bill 2025 defines spurious and misbranded seeds, it does not mention counterfeit seeds. To curb the sale of substandard seeds, there is a need to bring counterfeit, substandard, or fake seeds under the ambit of the new law.
Similarly, the medicinal and aromatic plants are not mentioned in the draft bill. Plant nurseries are also not defined in the bill. Additionally, transgenic and genome-edited varieties based on new technology are not currently part of the proposed legislation.
Seed Registration
Under the new law, registration will be mandatory for the sale of any variety of seed (except for farmers' variety and export). However, seeds notified under the Seeds Act, 1966, are exempt from registration. No person shall be permitted to sell or supply the misbranded seed kind or variety.
To protect farmers' interests, farmers will have the right to grow, re-sow, save, exchange, share or sell their farm seeds of any kind or variety registered under the Act. However, they will not be able to sell it under any brand name. Farmers are also exempt from any penalties.
Seed registration will be the responsibility of the Central Seed Committee, formed at the central level. Within this, there will be a registration sub-committee that can assess the value for cultivation and use (VCU) based on multi-location trials and recommend variety registration. There will be a State Seed Committee at the state level, which will advise the Registration Sub-Committee on the registration of seed varieties in the states. However, the Central Seed Committee, established at the central level, will have the ultimate control.
Dual Registration System
A National Register on Seed Varieties will be established under the new law. However, such a national register for varieties registration already exists under the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers' Rights Act (PPVFRA), 2021. The PPVFR Act also grants the right to produce and sell seeds of registered varieties. This will create a dual system of seed regulation under two laws, which could lead to confusion.
Under the PPVFR Act, 2021, seeds are registered based on distinctiveness, uniformity, and stability (DUS). However, under the Seeds Bill, 2025, evaluation of Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) based on multi-location trials will be mandatory for registration. This will create a dual system, allowing the sale of seeds without VCU evaluation. The value of cultivation and use (VCU) of seeds is of paramount importance to farmers. Before implementing the new law, it is important to resolve or clarify this dual system.
Seed Testing
The Central Seed Committee may authorise the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), central and state agricultural universities, and other organisations for seed trials and evaluation. Private companies may be authorised to conduct seed trials in the category of other organisations. This would be a major change in the seed regulatory system, increasing the role of the private sector in variety trials and limiting the scope of ICAR and agricultural universities.
Indian Seed Certification Standards must be followed for germination, genetic purity, and other seed standards. The central government may recognise any organization established outside India for conducting trials to assess the Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU). Recognising trials conducted outside India for seed sale in the country could also become a controversial issue.
The Seeds Bill does not specify a trial period. However, some experts suggest that the three-year trial period could be reduced to two years to reduce delays in reaching farmers with seeds of new varieties.
Private Sector Role
ICAR has a trial system under the All India Coordination Research Project, which involves ICAR institutes, central universities, and state agricultural universities. Granting private companies accreditation to conduct seed trials would increase the private sector’s role in seed regulation. This is being seen as an attempt to increase private sector control over seeds.
Although the ICAR system has several flaws and challenges, such as a lack of resources, the private sector’s role in seed trials has raised questions about conflicts of interest and reliability.
Although the ICAR system has several flaws and problems, such as a lack of resources, the responsibility for seed trials has raised questions about conflicts of interest, quality and reliability.
Ease of Doing Business
The proposed Seeds Bill facilitates the private sector by promoting Ease of Doing Business and reducing the compliance burden. There is a provision in the bill that the Central Government may establish a Central Accreditation System for companies operating in multiple States. It is claimed that this will incentivise excellence in research and development in the seed sector. Companies accredited under such a system shall be deemed to be registered. They will only need to submit their accreditation certificate to the State Registering Authority, sparing them the hassle of obtaining separate registrations in different states.
Importantly, state governments will not be able to reject applications from centrally accredited seed companies on technical, financial, or infrastructure grounds. Such provisions increase the central government's power in seed regulation and reduce the authority of states. This could become a major point of contention.
Prioritising Ease of Doing Business in the Seeds Bill, which is ostensibly brought to protect farmers from spurious and poor-quality seeds, raises many questions. The objectives of facilitating seed trade and providing high-quality seeds to farmers may be at odds with each other.
Registration of Seed Supply Chain
Registration of seed producers and their agents, processing units, dealers, distributors, and plant nurseries will be done by the respective state governments under the provisions of the new law. Since registration systems for seed producers and sellers already exist in states, the new system could create duplication or conflict with existing state regulations.
Whether every seed grower (farmers growing seeds under contract) will also have to register alongside seed producers. If so, it will increase the legal burden on farmers involved in seed production. Clarity is needed on this matter.
Traceability System
The new law emphasises seed traceability. For this, the central government has developed the Seed Traceability (SATHI) portal. A Quick Response (QR) code will be mandatory on every seed container, providing information from the certification agency to trial and standard details. Every seed producer, dealer, distributor, and even ICAR and agricultural universities will have to comply with the centralised seed traceability system.
Seed Imports
For seed imports, the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order 2003 will have to be followed, along with Indian standards for germination, purity, and health. Imported seeds may be eligible for registration based on multi-locational trials conducted in the exporting country. Registering seeds for use in India based on foreign trials could spark controversy.
A senior ICAR scientist told Rural World that this process is not appropriate – companies will get registration based on foreign data (like pesticides), start selling here, and submit local data only after two years. If problems are found, how will the damage be compensated?
Seed Certification and Testing
The old seed law provided certification only for notified varieties; the new law extends it to any registered variety. State governments may establish seed certification agencies. The law also provides that the Central Seed Committee or state governments may accredit other organisations (including private ones) for certification – opening the door for the private sector in seed certification, which has raised concerns given past questions about the functioning and capacity of state certification agencies.
The central government may also recognise seed certification agencies from other countries, increasing foreign agencies’ interference in India’s seed regulation and posing risks to data security and confidentiality related to India’s seed wealth – a highly sensitive issue for seed sovereignty.
Seed testing laboratories will be established at the central and state levels, and private-sector labs may be authorised as State Seed Testing Laboratories.
There is a provision for three-stage inspector visits (germination, flowering, and harvesting) to seed production fields for certification. Given the available human resources, such monitoring is practically impossible. For better implementation of the provision and new act must make the required changes for better inspection of seed production farms.
States Upset with Over-Centralisation
The expanded scope of centralised regulation may invite opposition from states, as the central law will curtail states’ regulatory authority over seeds. Although seed committees are proposed at both the central and state levels for registration, variety approval, and quality control, real control will remain with the Central Seed Committee, which has been given extensive powers. Even the power to fix seed prices in emergencies will lie with the Centre.
States have already begun expressing apprehensions about this centralised system. Telangana Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao said amendments to the seed law should not only protect farmers’ interests but also ensure that states’ rights are not compromised.
It is unclear who will bear the cost of the infrastructure and human resources required to implement the new law’s provisions. Since agriculture is a state subject and states will have the primary role in the implementation, states may push the financial responsibility onto the Centre.
Penalties and Fines
Selling spurious seeds has been classified as a major offence, while misbranding seeds is treated as a minor offence. Classifying misbranding as a minor offence has raised questions, because farmers often suffer huge losses when poor-quality seeds are sold under big company brands. Such complaints from farmers are frequent. However, such offenders will get away with a fine of just Rs. 1 lakh. For serious offences, the same amount of fines applies to seed producers/processing plants (large companies) and dealers (small traders).
No Provision for Compensation
The most criticised aspect of the draft is the absence of any provision for a compensation process for farmers when crops fail due to bad seeds. If seeds do not perform as claimed by the company, there is no mechanism in the new law to ensure farmers receive compensation. There is also insufficient provision to curb false or misleading claims made by companies about seed performance.
The draft, though comprehensive and ostensibly farmer-friendly, leaves many questions unanswered. For instance, while there is a provision for action on farmers’ complaints, there is no mandatory scientific investigation procedure. A senior scientist told Rural World that the draft says nothing about the process for handling a farmer’s complaint when seeds are bad or fail to deliver the claimed productivity.
Challenges for Small Producers
The new law will create difficulties for producers of labelled and non-certified seeds, as it contains provisions that discourage truthfully labelled (TL) seed production. This could push small seed producers out of the market. Interestingly, around 90% of seeds currently sold are TL seeds. Some experts believe that after the new law, small companies producing seeds for farmers will find it impossible to continue, leading to greater consolidation and small firms being forced out.
ICAR’s Role and Future
It is crucial to ensure greater reach of varieties developed by the ICAR network and other research institutions to farmers. In this regard, a senior policy expert told Rural World that during the UPA government, a proposal was floated that our research institutions are capable of producing excellent foundation seed.
To maintain the purity of seed lines till the end, research institutions should have Joint ventures (JVs) with the private sector. It was proposed with a 51:49 partnership, where the private sector would handle business, but institutions would retain board control. Profits from such long-term partnerships would go to institutions and scientists developing new varieties. This model works in many countries, but the idea did not progress then. Now, with a new seed law after nearly 60 years, such options should be considered to maintain a strong public-sector presence in the seed trade – better for farmers and India’s intellectual property rights.
Similarly, seed testing cannot be entirely handed over to the private sector. Strict standards must be set, and only compliant companies must be allowed; otherwise, financial provisions must be made to build infrastructure in states. Private companies should be graded based on their investment and R&D facilities.
Opposition from Farmer Organisations
Farmer organisations have begun voicing strong objections and concerns about the proposed seed law. The All India Kisan Sabha has termed it a planned attack on farmers’ rights as custodians of seed sovereignty, livelihoods, and biodiversity.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, in a statement, demanded that the draft Seeds Bill be withdrawn, alleging that it surrenders India’s seed sovereignty and aims to promote corporate monopoly in the seed sector.
All India Kisan Sabha has described the draft Seeds Bill 2025 as extremely harmful for farmers and the agriculture sector. AIKS president Ashok Dhawale said the proposed law would push agriculture into a deep crisis. He claimed that giving excessive concessions to corporations in the seed sector would lead to uncontrolled increases in seed prices, placing a heavy economic burden on farmers. It could threaten farmers’ freedom, the traditional practice of seed saving, and the protection of local diversity.
Intense deliberations are underway among the agricultural scientific community, the seed industry, and researchers. The preference given to the private sector in multi-locational trials, evaluation, and laboratory accreditation raises concerns about possible compromise on research and evaluation quality.
The new proposed law is indeed the need of the hour. The positive aspect is that the government has placed the draft in the public domain and prioritized consultation. Suggestions from stakeholders, farmer organisations, industry, scientists, and policy experts will now reach the government.
How much the government acts on these suggestions will play a major role not only in making the law better and more effective but also in bringing all stakeholders on board. It would be best if the government proceeds only after wide-ranging consultations, protecting farmers’ interests, ensuring food security, and giving a new shape to the seed trade. Only then can this law be saved from meeting the same fate as the three repealed farm laws, and the government can take credit for implementing a major agricultural reform.