Seed Production of Vegetable, Tuber and Spice Crops (2+1)

Seed (Control) order, 1983

Issue of Licence to dealers

• All persons carrying on the business of selling, exporting and importing seeds will be required to carry on the business in accordance with terms and conditions of licence granted to him for which dealer has to make an application in duplicate in Form 'A' together with a fee of Rs.50/- for licence to licensing authority unless the State Government by notification exempts such class of dealers in such areas and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the notification.
• Based on such enquiry as it thinks fit for licensing authority may grant in form 'B' or refuse in provisions of the order. The refusal to grant licence shall be accompanied by clear recording of reasons for such refusal.
Renewal of Licence

• A holder of licence shall be eligible for renewal upon and applicable being made in the prescribed form 'C' (in duplicate) together with a fee of rupees twenty before the expiry of licence or at the most within a month of date of expiry of license for which additional fee of Rs.25/- is required to be paid.
Appointing of Licensing authority

• The state government may appoint such number of persons as it thinks necessary to be inspector and define the area of such inspector’s jurisdiction through notification in the official gazette.
Time limit for analysis of samples by seed testing lab

• Time limit for analysis of samples by seed testing lab and suspension / cancellation of license may be done by Licensing authority after giving an opportunity of being heard to the holder of license, suspend or cancel the license on grounds of mis-representation of a material in particular or contravention in provision of the order.
Suspension / Cancellation of license

• The Licensing authority may after giving an opportunity of being held to the holder of license, suspend or cancel the license on grounds of mis-representation of material in particular or contravention in provision of the Order.
Appeal

• The state government may specify authority for hearing the appeals against suspension / cancellation under this order and the decision of such authority shall be final. Any person aggrieved by an order of refusal to grant or amend or renew the license for sale, export / import of seed may within 60 days from the date of Order appeal to the designated authority in the manner prescribed in the Order.
Miscellaneous

• The licencing authority may on receipt of request in writing together with Rs.10/- can amend the licence of such dealer. Every seed dealer are expected to maintain such books, accounts and records to this business in order and submit monthly return of his business for the preceding months in Form 'D' to the licencing authority by 5th day of every month
Plant variety protection (PVP) and the Indian Agriculture
(Protection of Plant Variety & farmers right Bill, 2001)

• The principle objective of the Plant Varieties Act is to stimulate both the private and public investment in the plant breeding research, and enhance the interest of the plant breeders in the development of outstanding crop varieties and / or propagating materials by granting variety protection rights, such as control over seed production, marketing, export and import of seeds in respect of the new varieties developed by them. The varieties so protected shall be termed as ‘protected varieties’.
Rights of the Holders of Protected Varieties

1. The private organizations / individuals shall have exclusive rights on the funds / dividends arising out of the sale of seeds.
2. The Government of India shall have the exclusive rights on the funds / dividends arising out the sale, in respect of all such protected varieties.
Exchange of Germplasm

• The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) shall freely exchange germplasm with all such countries who allow free access to their germplasm with a provision that the germplasm so supplied shall not be transferred to any other country without the authorization by the Government of India (GOI).
Protection of Extent Vareities / Propagating Materials

• The ‘Export Varieties’, that is, the varieties released and notified under the Seeds Act may be granted protection on request for a period of 15 years for crop species and 18 years for tree species. After the expiry of the prescribed period they shall be dealt with in the same manner as the germplasm exchange.
Protection of New Plant Varieties / Propagating Materials

• The new variety shall be protected for a period of 15 years for crop species and 18 years for tree species, only if it conforms tot he following criterion:
1. It is clearly distinguishable in regard to at least one identifiable character from all other known varieties of that crop and satisfies the requirements such as, distinctness, uniformity and stability.
2. It has not been marketed in India, prior to the date of filing the application.
3. In other countries it has not been marketed for more than past six years.
Compulsory Licence

• The ‘Authority’ at its discretion may give licence to a person(s) or agency(ies) to whom it considers appropriate for seed production and seed sale of specific varieties for specific periods on prescribed terms and conditions.
Researchers Rights

• Nothing in this Act abridges or restricts the rights of the researcher to have free and complete access to protected materials for research use.
Community Rights

• The Act recognises the contribution of Indian farmers towards the conservation of local germpalsm / land races.
Farmers Rights

1. The traditional rights of farmers to save, use, exchange, share and sell propagated material / seed.
• The farmers will be entitled for suitable compensation from the breeder of the protected variety or sellers in the event of failure in the stated performance of protected variety.
• The Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are generally being applicable to industrial property only. The patent laws of India did not provide for IPRs on living organisms including plant varieties. The question of plant variety protection has been brought in to sharp focus by Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which is a part of Agreement establishing World Trade Organization (WTO). India is a signatory to TRIPS agreement, which casts an obligation on member countries to provide for a system of plant variety protection either through patents or through a sui generic legislation framework or a combination thereof. Under these agreements, a legislative framework for plant variety protection has to be provided by member countries within a specified time period. While this has lent some urgency to the question of plant variety protection, the question of plant variety rights, even independent of the obligations posed by TRIP’s agreement, has been under active consideration in view of our strong agricultural research system. The plant breeding programmes have become more sophisticated and high input based.
  
• The extent of investment by the State on public research, in evolving varieties of commercial significance, is coming down with responsibility of evolving new varieties of crops of commercial significance being left to the private sector commercial organisations. There is also a move on the part of the international research institutions, which at one time played a pioneering role in plant breeding and genetic work, to focus on pure or strategic research. In the wake of the global economic liberalization, it is only expected that agriculture is accorded the status of an industry and given all incentives and impetus, normally required for a fast developing, competitive business.
• To meet our food demands, as well as to exploit our export potential in agricultural commodities, development and use of new plant varieties having specific agronomic nutritive or market preference characteristics are essential. New varieties may be bred for higher yields, greater resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, longer shelf life, better consumer preference, higher industrial value, low input requirements and so on. To meet these demands the variety improvement activities based on conventional as well as biotechnological methods requires heavy investments both in scientific, man power and economic terms. It is therefore, understandable that the fruits of such intensive efforts will have to be protected from misuse, and also ensuring an appropriate incentive (reward) to the breeder.