Centre releases draft Seeds Bill 2025

The Centre on Thursday released the draft Seeds Bill of 2025 that proposes to replace the decades-old Seeds Act of 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order of 1983.

- SANJEEB MUKHERJEE

The Bill proposes to set up a centralised accreditation system for granting of licences, doing away with the current provision of individual states doing the same. It focusses on traceability, entrusts the responsibility of price control tothe central government, and also deregulates the power of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) to approve variety trials. It also proposed stiff penalties ranging from three years imprisonment to fine of %30 lakh for major offences, and calls for mandatory registration of all new varieties while granting deemed registration to existingones. The licensing system of dealers has been removed. But,