Seed legislation, Seed laws, Indian seed act

Seed legislation is an important part of Seed technology in Agriculture and Horticulture.

1. Presentation on SEED LEGISLATION PRESENTED BY: NAME : PANKHURI SINGH (3 RD YEAR HORTICULTURE STUDENT) REG. NO : J-21-HORTI-50 FOR COURSE : SEED PRODUCTION IN VEGETABLE, TUBER AND SPICE CROPS (VSC 321)

2. INTRODUCTION TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF SEED LEGISLATION FIRST WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WORD ACTUALLY MEANS. LEGISLATION IS A BROAD TERM WHICH PERTAINS TO A LAW OR A SET OF LAWS , THE PROCESS OF OFFICIALLY MAKING LAWS BY THE PARLIAMENT AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT . IT IS ABOVE ALL, AN EXPRESSION OF GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL POLICY, A SPECIAL LEGISLATION RELATED TO SEEDS.

3. WHY ARE SPECIAL SEED LAWS NECESSARY? The lifecycle of a crop begins and ends at seed. Seed is the fundamental agricultural input. Good quality seed is the primary determinant for flourishing agriculture. The quality of a particular bag of seeds is difficult to judge especially by a farmer. By no means can a farmer access the presence of varietal purity, inert matter, germination percentage, disease etc. If the farmer sows poor quality seed, he stands to lose his whole crop. Seed laws protect farmers against fraud, negligence and accidents. This is why legislation regarding the production, certification and distribution of seed is necessary.

4. The primary purpose for seed legislation is to regulate various aspects of the seed production industry – in particular seed production, processing, storage, testing and marketing. All seed under trade should be under legislative provisions irrespective of its origin.

5. TYPES OF SEED LEGISLATION

6. SEED LEGISLATION IN INDIA Before 1960 there was no legislation regarding seed in India. Seed legislation was initiated in the country by the establishment of the National Seed Corporation in 1963 , under the Ministry Of Agriculture. Government of India enacted The Seed Act 1966, and Seed Rules 1968. both were adopted in 1969. Other significant legislation efforts were Essential Commodities Act 1955, Seed Order 1983, New Policy on Seed Development 1988, Plants, Varieties And Fruits Order 1989, National Seed Policy 2002, Seed Bill 2004.

7. THE INDIAN SEED ACT 1966 It was sanctioned by the Parliament of India on 29 th December, 1966 and was enforced from 2 nd October 1969 in the entire country. The main aim of this act was to regulate quality of seed sold for agricultural purpose and provide a basic regulatory structure to ensure seed quality control. 2 regulatory bodies were set up under the ISA : The Central Seed Committee (CSC) and the Central Seed Certification Board (CSCB) Certain amendments were subsequently made to the ISA in the year 1972, 73, 74 and 81 The act has 25 sections and is applicable all over India. Broadly speaking, the act specifies functions of various regulatory bodies, chalks rules for notification of new varieties, specifications for minimum limits of seed germination and purity, regulates sale of seeds, certification, compulsory labelling and a lot more. Section 2 of the act has 16 clauses which defines various terms used in the whole act. Like agriculture, certification agency, export, seed etc.

8. The first section of Indian Seed Act 1966

9. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT ALL IS MENTIONED IN THE SEED ACT SEED ACT

10. MINIMUM LIMITS AND LABELLING a) Power to notify the varieties N ew varieties evolved in the SAUs and ICAR institutes are notified and released under Section 5 of the act in consultation with CSC and its sub committees under section 3 and 3(5) b) Labelling provision Minimum limits for germination, physical purity and genetic purity for labelling seeds of notified varieties are under section 6 (a) Size, colour, and contents of the label are under sub clause (b) of section 6. Responsibility for making labelling content false, or using misleading statement are defined under section 5 clause 7,8,9,10,11 and 12. c) Seed testing Seed testing laboratories have been assigned certain important functions under part 3 (5) of seed rule. Central and state seed testing laboratories have been mentioned under section 4 of ISA. d) Seed Analysts State government could appoint seed analysts under section 12 of seed act and ascertain his jurisdiction Minimum qualifications to be possessed by seed analyst are prescribed under part 9 of seed rule e) Seed inspectors Under section 13 the state government may appoint a person as a seed inspector with the right qualifications to enforce the seed law. The powers of seed inspector are mentioned under section 14 and procedure to be followed under 15. f )Penalty I f any person contravenes any provision of the act he could be punished under section 19 of the act

11. 2. SEED CERTIFICATION Seeds of only those varieties which are notified under section 5 of seed act are eligible for certification Section 8 of the seed act provides the state and central government the authority to establish certification agencies to carry out functions of certification. Section 9 escribes the rules and procedure for any certification agency to grant certificate while 10 describes conditions for revocation of that certificate 3. RESTRICTION ON EXPORT AND IMPORT OF SEEDS OF NOTIFIED VARIETIES Under section 17 it is mentioned that export or import of any seed of notified variety will not be possible under it conforms to section 6 (A) and (B)

12. Seed inspectors at work Seed testing

13. SEED RULES 1968 The seed rules were framed under The Indian seed act and were notified in 1968 This contains 11 sections of rules. OVERVIEW: Preliminary – this section provides definitions for various terms used under seed rule Central seed committee - describes functions of CSC, travelling and daily allowances to be paid to members and sub committees. Central seed laboratory – describes functions of central and state seed laboratories for uniformity in test results, recommendation of testing procedure and standards. Seed certification agency- functions and rules to be followed by certification agencies Similarly there are 7 more sections each in detail about- Marketing and labelling, certifications, appeal, seed analysts and inspectors, samples for seed analysis, and miscellaneous section.

14. THE SEED (CONTROL) ORDER 1983 It was issued under the essential commodities act 1955. This order required the seed dealers to obtain a license valid for 3 years in order to operate, it grants the controller powers to regulate the sale and distribution of seed and provides additional power to seed inspectors to appoint a licensing authority It came into enforcement on 30 th December 1983. It also describes application procedure for license, its grant or refusal, period of validity, renewal and the enforcing authority for all this.

15. NEW POLICY ON SEED DEVELOPMENT 1988 It was issued on September 16, 1988 The policy laid emphasis on: Import of high quality seeds A time bound programme to modernize plant quarantine Effective implementation of procedures for quarantine Incentives to encourage domestic industry Application of biotechnology in agriculture and seed production

16. NATIONAL SEED POLICY 2002 The Seed Act 1966, Seed Control Order 1983, New Policy On Seed Development 1988, formed the basics of promotion and regulation of Indian seed industry. However these had a lot of constraints which were later worked on while developing the National Seed Policy. The main objectives were provision of appropriate climate for seed industry to utilize opportunities, safeguarding the interests of farmers and conservation of agrobiodiversity. THRUST AREAS: Varietal development and plant varietal protection Seed production Quality assurance Seed distribution and marketing

17. 5. Infrastructure facilities 6. Transgenic plant varieties 7. Import of seed and planting material 8. Export of seeds 9. Promotion of domestic seed 10. Strengthening monitoring systems

18. SEED BILL 2004 In 1988 a seed policy review group recommended a drastic reform to the Indian seed laws, a law that would replace the current 1966 seed act. In 2004, a new seed bill was announced MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF SEED BILL Making registration of new varieties obligatory Creating a national register for seeds Making import and export easier Accommodating new regulations on GM crops Improving market conditions for private seed companies

19. CONCLUSION Agricultural production is completely dependent on seed as the primary and highly critical input. Legalization of seed production marketing and distribution helps maintain quality standards to make sure best quality seed reaches farmer. For this purpose government of india has taken steps in framing seed act, seed rules, seed control order, national seed policy, plant quarantine oreder , ppv and fr act and many more legislative efforts. All of these efforts collectively comprise “seed legislation”

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