Transformation of Variety Release and Notification System in India- Six Decades of the Seeds Act, 1966: A Review

The official system of release of crop varieties in India has been in operation for more than six decades since October 1964. The Central Government decided to legalize this system and regulate the quality of seeds of varieties and enacted the seeds act on December 29, 1966. The act came in to force in whole of India and State of Sikkim with effect from September 2, 1968 and May 8, 1987, respectively and October 1, 1969 only for certain provisions of some sections. The first Central Seed Committee and Seed Rules were formed in 1968. The Seeds Act, 1966 was amended in 1972 resulting in to the creation of first Central Seed Certification Board in 1984. The first set of 56 varieties was notified with effect from October 1, 1969 as per section 5 of the Seeds Act, 1966; for specific state/s and for 15 years, but, the bar of 15 years for notification of varieties was removed in 2006 since the notification of May 15, 1990. A total of 7326 high yielding varieties/hybrids having tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses and enhanced nutritional quality of 96 field crops have been released and notified till 2024. Among them, 242 varieties were de-notified until cut-off notification of May 15, 1990. Another land mark policy decision during the last six decades was enforcement of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Rules, 2003 for protecting the rights of various stakeholders such as plant breeders, researchers and farmers initiating an era of intellectual property rights in agriculture and registration of 9210 varieties. The Central Government initiated regulating the price of Bt cotton since 2016–17. The future- regulating system of variety release and notification and seed quality through any legislation should address various issues like the plant variety protection regime including benefit sharing, development of varieties by utilizing new emerging technologies such as gene-editing, biotech crops and harmonizing Indian and international seed production/certification standards to cater the need of Indian farmers and also promote seed export.