Parliament Question: Action and punishment against fake seeds companies

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 828 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06/02/2026 ACTION AND PUNISHMENT AGAINST FAKE SEEDS COMPANIES 828. DR. SIKANDER KUMAR: Will the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare be pleased to state: (a) the measures taken by Government to ensure strict action and punishment against fake seeds and the manner it would protect traditional seed system; (b) the criteria for mandatory registration of all seed companies, dealers and plant nurseries to ensure only authorised players operate in the market; (c) whether there would be any mechanisms to regulate price of commercial or proprietary seeds during emergent situations to prevent price gouging; and (d) the concrete steps being taken to strengthen public sector research to ensure high quality, affordable seeds remain available to small farmers ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE (SHRI RAM NATH THAKUR) (a): To regulate seed quality and curb the sale of spurious seeds, the Seeds Act, 1966, the Seed Rules, 1968 and Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 empower State Governments to appoint Seed Inspectors to inspect seed outlets, draw samples and take enforcement action including cancellation of licences, seizure of stocks, stop-sale orders and prosecution against violators. Further, Government of India has also launched Seed Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory (SATHI) portal to enable end-to-end digital traceability of seeds across the supply chain, enhancing transparency and helping prevent the circulation of spurious/sub- standard seeds. Government of India also issue advisories to all the States/UTs, to ensure implementation of existing legal framework strictly to step up the vigil on the storage, sale point of dealers /retailers etc. to check the sale of spurious/ sub-standard seeds. In order to protect the traditional varieties seed, provisions already available under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001 & Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to conserve and sustainable use of traditional and Farmer’s varieties. Farmers have right to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell their own farm saved seeds.Under the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM), assistance is provided for boosting seed production of traditional varieties through the distribution of seeds at 50% cost, Seed production incentives of ₹1000 per quintal for cereals and millets and ₹2000 per quintal for pulses and oilseeds, Capacity building programmes and also One-time assistance of ₹50 lakh for establishment of community seed banks. Further, under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001, farmers are encouraged to conserve and cultivate indigenous traditional varieties by: o Registration of farmers’ varieties with intellectual property protection. o Recognition through Plant Genome Saviour Community Awards, Farmer Rewards and Farmer Recognitions. o Financial support up to ₹15 lakh for conservation of traditional varieties by farmers in accordance with PPVFR (utilization of National Gene Fund for conservation and sustainable use of plant Genetic Resources) Rules, 2025. (b): Any person, seed companies and firms to operate seed business, has to obtain Seed dealer license under the clause 3 of the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 from the concerned State Government. Further, Horticulture nurseries are registered and regulated under the Nursery Acts by the concerned State. (c): Government of India has promulgated the Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order, 2015 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to ensure fair pricing of Bt. cotton hybrid seeds and maximum sale prices of Bt. cotton seeds are fixed every year. (d): The financial assistance is provided to Indian Council of Agricultural Research Institutes(ICAR), State Agriculture Universities(SAUs) and public sector including strengthening seed infrastructure facilities to facilitate seed related research activities viz. development of high-yielding, stress-tolerant and climate-resilient seed and bio-fortified varieties suitable for different agro-climatic conditions to make available of quality seeds at affordable prices to farmers (including small farmers). From the 2014 to 2025-26, 3236 high- yielding (including 2,996 climate-resilient) varieties seed of field crops have been released and notified. Furthermore, the several steps have been taken to make seeds available at affordable prices to farmers, which includes, financial assistance to the States/UTs and public sector implementing agencies for seed-related activities including purchase of breeder seeds, distribution of quality seeds, strengthening seed infrastructure, support for Strategic Adaptive Research project and free distribution of minikits of new High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of pulses and Nutri-cereals, under schemes such as National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM), National Mission on Edible Oils–Oilseeds and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). These interventions enhance productivity and help reduce cost of cultivation. Production of seeds in public sector is also encouraged to ensure availability of quality seeds at affordable prices to farmers. *****