Monsanto's Adversary

The global agri-biotech major’s plans for India are being thwarted by M. Prabhakara Rao, promoter of the country’s biggest seed fi rm Nuziveedu. How the battle plays out will have major ramifi cations on the seeds industry.

- Joe C. Mathew

If there is one individual that global agri biotech major Monsanto dislikes the most in India, it is Mandava Prabhakara Rao, the 57-year-old Chairman of India’s largest seed company Nuziveedu Seeds (NSL).

Rao, who also happens to be the President of India’s largest domestic seed industry body, National Seed Association of India (NSAI), is considered by Monsanto to be the key man behind ‘a systematic spread of misinformation’ that has led to a host of government actions against Monsanto’s business interests. It accuses Rao’s company of breach of trust, non-payment of dues and attempted misappropriation of intellectual property rights (IPRs) – three issues, which under normal conditions, would have been just commercial disputes between two companies.

Unfortunately for Monsanto, Rao’s defiance has larger implications. He is against the company’s established practice of having bilateral private contracts for technology transfer of BT cotton seed and its revenue-sharing model with domestic partners. Monsanto had, until very recently, 49 sub-licensee partners, NSL being the largest of the lot and the toughest to deal with. Rao has also questioned the manner in which IPRs in seed technology are rewarded in India, and strongly opposes Monsanto’s view that it should be governed under the patent law.

Rao believes intellectual property protection for seeds should be within the domain of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act (PPVFRA). The differences, therefore, find its roots in patents and patentability, and are not merely about a breach of trust or nonpayment issues between two companies.