Seeds Bill, 2025 to Replace 1966 Act, Fail to Promote Imports and Farmer Rights, Comments on Draft Invited by 11 Dec

· New Bill to Replace Seeds Act, 1966 and Seeds (Control) Order, 1983

· Bill Aims to Ensure Quality Seeds, Protect Farmers’ Rights and Promote Ease of Doing Business

· Stakeholders can Submit Suggestions by December 11, 2025

Objective and Purpose

· Replace Old Legislation: The draft Bill is intended to supersede the Seeds Act, 1966, and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983, to make regulations more relevant to current agricultural realities.

· Quality Assurance: It aims to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials in the market, ensuring farmers have access to reliable, high-quality seeds at affordable prices.

· Fraud Prevention: The Bill proposes stricter control to curb the sale of spurious or poor-quality seeds, thus protecting farmers from losses caused by such products.

Key Features

· Farmers’ Rights: The Bill safeguards farmers’ interests, emphasizing their rights, and promotes transparency and accountability in the seed supply chain.

· Promote Innovation: By liberalizing seed imports, the Bill seeks to promote innovation and provide access to global varieties.

· Ease of Doing Business: Minor offences will be decriminalized, lowering the compliance burden on businesses and encouraging a more business-friendly environment.

· Strong Penalties: While easing some compliance issues, the Bill retains strict penalties for serious violations to maintain market integrity.

· Modernization: The Bill aligns seed regulation with contemporary agricultural and regulatory needs.

Consultation and Feedback

· Public Consultation: The draft Bill and feedback format are available on the Ministry’s official website.

· Submission Process: Stakeholders and the public can submit comments and suggestions on the draft and its provisions via email to jsseeds-agri[at]gov[dot]in.

· Deadline: All feedback must be submitted in Word or PDF format by December 11, 2025.

Call to Action

· Review and Respond: All interested parties are encouraged to review the draft Bill and participate in the pre-legislative consultation to help shape the final legislation.

[ABS News Service/14.11.2025]

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, has prepared a draft Seeds Bill, 2025, aligned with current agricultural and regulatory requirements. The proposed legislation is intended to replace the existing Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983.

The draft Seeds Bill, 2025 seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials available in the market, ensure farmers’ access to high-quality seeds at affordable rates, curb the sale of spurious and poor-quality seeds, protect farmers from losses, liberalise seed imports to promote innovation and access to global varieties, and safeguard the rights of farmers, ensuring transparency and accountability in seed supply chains.

On the enforcement side, the draft Bill proposes to decriminalise minor offences, thereby promoting Ease of Doing Business and reducing compliance burden, while maintaining strong provisions to penalise serious violations effectively.

As part of the pre-legislative consultation process, the draft Seeds Bill, 2025, and the prescribed feedback format are available on the Ministry’s official website https://agriwelfare.gov.in.

All stakeholders and members of the public are invited to submit their comments and suggestions on the draft Bill and its provisions. Feedback may be sent by email to jsseeds-agri[at]gov[dot]in.

Submissions can be made in MS Word or PDF format as early as possible, no later than December 11, 2025. (Format enclosed below).