Archive · 13 Nov 2025
Government Proposes New Seed Bill to Enhance Quality Control and Traceability
The government wants to create new rules for seeds, called the Draft Seeds Bill, to replace old laws.
The main goal is to make sure the seeds farmers buy are really good quality and not fake.
This is important because fake seeds can cause crops to fail, leading to big problems and debt for farmers.
The new bill wants to make it easier to track where seeds come from and prove they are real.
While the bill aims to help farmers by ensuring better seeds, some people suggest using technology like blockchain to make sure seeds are traceable.
The government also plans to make minor mistakes less punishable for small seed sellers, but will still have tough penalties for serious offenses like selling fake seeds.
Everyone can share their thoughts on this new bill until December 11, 2025.
The government has released a draft Seeds Bill, 2025, aiming to replace the Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983.
The proposed legislation seeks to improve seed quality, traceability, and farmers' access to affordable, high-quality seeds.
Key objectives include curbing the sale of counterfeit and poor-quality seeds and protecting farmers from crop losses due to sub-standard products.
The bill proposes decriminalizing minor offenses for easier compliance while maintaining strict penalties for serious violations.
Public feedback on the draft Seeds Bill is being accepted until December 11, 2025.
- Who
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India
- What
- Released a draft Seeds Bill, 2025 for public comment, proposing to replace existing seed legislation with stricter quality control and enhanced traceability.
- When
- Public comments are being accepted until December 11, 2025.
- Where
- Across India, concerning agricultural seeds.
- Why
- To address the growing problem of spurious seeds, ensure farmers access high-quality, affordable seeds, protect them from crop losses, and align regulations with modern practices.
Concerns from Experts and Industry
Government's Proposed Solutions
Farmer Compensation for Seed Underperformance
Concerns from Experts and Industry
Experts noted that the proposed legislation does not explicitly offer compensation to farmers if seeds underperform or fail.
Government's Proposed Solutions
The bill aims to ensure farmers have access to affordable, high-quality seeds and to curb spurious seed sales, indirectly protecting farmers from losses.
Mechanism for Traceability and Verification
Concerns from Experts and Industry
Industry leaders suggest using technologies like blockchain for seed traceability and originality verification to build trust.
Government's Proposed Solutions
The draft bill strengthens systems to verify the quality and originality of seeds to ensure farmers are purchasing genuine products.
Mandatory Seed Certification and Oversight
Concerns from Experts and Industry
Concerns exist that current provisions may not cover all seed types, particularly 'truthfully labeled' seeds, leaving room for oversight gaps.
Government's Proposed Solutions
The draft bill seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials to curb substandard and counterfeit products and aims to improve authentication.
- Bill Name
- Draft Seeds Bill, 2025
- Objective
- Overhaul seed regulations, replace Seeds Act, 1966 and Seeds (Control) Order, 1983, improve seed quality, traceability, and farmer access to affordable seeds, and curb spurious seeds.
- Public Consultation Deadline
- December 11, 2025
- Stricter Checks
- Strengthening systems to verify quality and originality of seeds.
- Minor Offenses
- Decriminalized to ease compliance for small producers.
- Serious Violations
- Retain strong penalties for manufacturing or selling fake or misbranded seeds.
- Sub-standard Seed Rate (2024-25)
- 32,525 out of 2.53 lakh samples tested were found sub-standard.
