India, Feb. 6 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
Registration of farmers' varieties with intellectual property protection.
Recognition through Plant Genome Saviour Community Awards, Farmer Rewards and Farmer Recognitions.
Financial support up to Rs.15 lakh for conservation of traditional varieties by farmers in accordance with PPVFR (utilization of National Gene Fund for conservation and sustainable use of plant Genetic Resources) Rules, 2025.
To regulate seed quality and curb the sale of spurious seeds, the Seeds Act, 1966, the Seed Rules, 1968 and Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 empower State Governments to appoint Seed Inspectors to inspect seed outlets, draw samples and take enforcement action including cancellation of licences, seizure of stocks, stop-sale orders and prosecution against violators.
Further, Government of India has also launched Seed Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory (SATHI) portal to enable end-to-end digital traceability of seeds across the supply chain, enhancing transparency and helping prevent the circulation of spurious/sub-standard seeds.Government of India also issue advisories to all the States/UTs, to ensure implementation of existing legal framework strictly to step up the vigil on the storage, sale point of dealers /retailers etc. to check the sale of spurious/ sub-standard seeds.
In order to protect the traditional varietiesseed, provisions already available under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001 & Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to conserve and sustainable use of traditional and Farmer's varieties. Farmers have right to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell their own farm saved seeds.
This information was given by Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
