Planned Amendments to PPV&FRA Act and Farmers’ Concerns

The Union Agriculture Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, announced plans to amend the PPV&FRA Act, incorporating suggestions from stakeholders to address current challenges and bolster farmers’ interests.

The Act has been in force for 20 years; the agricultural sector has seen technological, scientific, and trade changes during this period.

Consultations:

• A committee headed by agriculture scientist R.S. Paroda, under PPVFRA, is conducting wide stakeholder consultations.
• Aim: Examine the Act’s provisions, identify deficiencies, and suggest amendments to align with present-day realities.

Key Areas of Proposed Amendments:

• Definition of Variety and Seed:
  • Expand “variety needs” to include combinations of genotypes (aligning with draft Seeds Bill 2019).
  • Include seedlings, tubers, bulbs, rhizomes, roots, tissue culture plantlets, synthetic seeds, and other vegetatively propagated material under the definition of seed.
• Breeder and Institutions:
  • Redefine “institution” in the definition of breeder to cover both public and private establishments in the seeds sector.
• DUS Test (Distinctness, Uniformity, Stability):
  • Include trait importance in DUS guidelines.
  • Address concerns of misuse and ensure proper testing before registration.
• Abusive Acts:
  • Define actions like producing, selling, marketing, exporting, or importing a variety with the same denomination as another as punishable.

Farmers’ Concerns:

• Community Seeds Protection:
  • Farmers’ groups, including Samyukt Kisan Morcha, demand registration for community-developed seeds.
  • Fear misuse of DUS tests by private companies to monopolise seeds. Example cited: Njavara paddy seed from South India.
• Awareness and Inclusion:
  • Small peasantry often unaware of techno-legal frameworks and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
  • Seeds are traditionally treated as shared community resources, conflicting with exclusive economic rights under IPR.
• Compensation Mechanisms:
  • Original Act has provisions for compensation for non-performance of IP-protected propagating material, but detailed criteria are still missing in the Rules.
• Global Pressure Concerns:
  • Developing countries are being pressured to align domestic laws with international IPR frameworks, which may conflict with open-source or community-based seed practices.