**Executive Summary:**
The Ministry of Cooperation has established three national-level multi-state cooperative societies to boost the cooperative sector. These societies focus on exports, organic produce, and quality seeds, aiming to enhance agricultural production and support the rural economy. A key initiative involves distributing quality seeds under the brand "Bharat Beej" and preserving indigenous seeds through the Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL). The BBSSL will coordinate with existing seed companies to reduce reliance on imported seeds.
**Key Points / Main Content:**
* **Establishment of National-Level Cooperative Societies:**
* Three national-level multi-state cooperative societies have been set up for exports, organic produce, and quality seeds, registered under the MSCS Act, 2002.
* Cooperative societies at all levels, from PACS to Apex, can become members.
* **National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL):**
* Focuses on exporting surpluses from the Indian cooperative sector to wider markets.
* Aims to secure the best possible prices for products and services.
* Provides finance, technical guidance, training, and market intelligence.
* **Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL):**
* Undertakes the production, procurement, and distribution of quality seeds under the brand "Bharat Beej."
* Develops a system for the preservation and promotion of indigenous natural seeds.
* Seeks to increase the production of quality seeds in India and reduce dependence on imported seeds.
* Focuses on all two generations of seeds i.e., foundation and certified.
* Incentivizes farmers for the cultivation of natural seeds.
* Will work in close coordination with all existing public and cooperative sector seed companies.
* **National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL):**
* Handles aggregation, branding, and marketing of organic products.
* Facilitates certification, production, testing, procurement, storage, processing, labeling, packaging, and logistic support for organic products.
* Launched 25 organic products under the brand name "Bharat Organics" in DelhiNCR.
* Aims to make reliable organic products available in domestic and international markets.
* **Seed Distribution and Preservation:**
* BBSSL distributes quality seeds under the "Bharat Beej" brand through all market channels.
* Aims to preserve and conserve indigenous plant variants' seeds, including food grains, vegetables, and fruits.
* Will set up a seed bank to ensure the availability of these seeds to farmers.
**Impact Analysis**
* **Cooperative Societies (PACS to Apex):**
* *Impact:* Eligible for membership in the national-level cooperative societies, gaining access to wider markets, technical guidance, and better prices for their products.
* *Action Required:* Interested cooperatives should apply for membership in the relevant national-level society (NCEL, BBSSL, or NCOL).
* **Farmers:**
* *Impact:* Will benefit from the availability of quality seeds under the "Bharat Beej" brand, potentially leading to higher crop yields and better prices for organic products.
* *Action Required:* Utilize the "Bharat Beej" seeds for cultivation and participate in the cultivation of natural seeds, leveraging assistance from various agencies.
* **Existing Seed Producing Companies (Public & Cooperative Sector):**
* *Impact:* BBSSL will coordinate with these companies to achieve its objectives, potentially impacting their market share and operations.
* *Action Required:* Collaborate with BBSSL to align production and distribution efforts and contribute to reducing the country’s dependence on imported seeds.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Cooperation: The Indian government ministry responsible for cooperative societies.
Multi-State Cooperative Societies: Cooperative societies with operations in more than one state in India.
Shri Rajesh Naranbhai Chudasama: Member of Lok Sabha who raised the starred question.
Shri Amit Shah: The Minister of Cooperation answering the question in Lok Sabha.
MSCS Act, 2002: The Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act of 2002, the legislation under which the national-level cooperative societies are registered.
National Cooperative Exports Limited NCEL: A national-level multi-state cooperative society focused on exporting products and services from the Indian cooperative sector.
Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited BBSSL: A national-level multi-state cooperative society focused on the production, procurement, and distribution of quality seeds under the brand name Bharat Beej.
National Cooperative Organics Limited NCOL: A national-level multi-state cooperative society focused on aggregation, branding, and marketing of organic products under the brand name Bharat Organics.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COOPERATION
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 2608
TO BE ANSWERED ON 05th AUGUST, 2025
Multi-State Cooperative Societies
2608. Shri Rajesh Naranbhai Chudasama:
Will the Minister of COOPERATION (सहकारिता मंत्री) be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has set up five national level Multi-State Co-operative Societies to
export, promote organic produce, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether seeds are going to be distributed under a single brand through co-operative network to
improve crop yield and develop a system for preservation of seeds, if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has set up any safety net for the existing seed producing companies
in public sector in the country that might face losses as a result; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION
सहकारिता मंत्री (SHRI AMIT SHAH)
(a): Ministry of Cooperation has set up three national-level multi-state cooperative societies; one
each for Exports, Organic produce and quality seeds. These Societies have been registered under
MSCS Act, 2002. The cooperative societies of all levels, PACS to Apex, interested in specified
activities, are eligible to become their member. The details are as under:
(i) National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL): NCEL will focus on exporting the surpluses
available in the Indian cooperative sector by accessing wider markets beyond the geographical
contours of the country, and fetch best possible prices for such products/services. The society
will also help in arranging finance, provide technical guidance, help in training and capacity
building, develop and maintain market intelligence system, implement related government
schemes and undertake any other such activities to increase exports from the cooperative
sector and other related entities.
(ii) Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL): BBSSL has been set up to undertake
production, procurement & distribution of quality seeds under the brand name ‘Bharat Beej’,
and develop a system for preservation and promotion of indigenous natural seeds. BBSSLwould help in increasing the production of quality seeds in India, thereby reducing the
dependence on imported seeds, enhancing agricultural production, providing a boost to the
rural economy, promoting “Make in India” and leading to Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The society will focus on production, testing, certification, procurement, processing, storage,
branding, labelling and packaging of all two generations of seeds i.e., foundation and certified,
by leveraging various schemes and policies of different ministries of Government of India.
BBSSL will achieve its objectives by leveraging the strength of the network of cooperatives.
This will help in achieving the goal of "Sahakar-se-Samriddhi" through the inclusive growth
model of cooperatives, where the members would benefit by the realization of better prices
through production of quality seeds, higher production of crops by use of High-Yielding
Variety (HYV) seeds and also by dividend distributed out of the surplus generated by BBSSL.
(iii) National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL): NCOL has been set up to undertake and
provide aggregation, branding and marketing of organic products through facilitating
various activities including certification, production, testing, procurement, storage,
processing, labelling, packaging, logistic support, etc of organic products. So far, NCOL has
launched 25 organic products under the brand name ‘Bharat Organics’ in the Delhi-NCR.
NCOL will make reliable and authentic organic products available in domestic as well as
international markets and will pass on the benefits of the high price of organic products to
the producers through its members.
(b): Yes, sir, the BBSSL is distributing its quality seeds under the brand name ‘Bharat Beej’ through
all available market channels, including private, which would help in enhancing the agricultural
production. One of the primary objectives of BBSSL is to identify natural seeds of indigenous
plant variants, including but not restricted to seeds of food grain, vegetables, fruits etc. and to
develop a system for their preservation, conservation, breeding, production, distribution,
promotion and all other activities needed. BBSSL will also incentivize farmers for the cultivation
of natural seeds through assistance from various agencies and set up a seed bank to ensure the
availability of these seeds to farmers.
(c) to (d): The BBSSL will work in close coordination with all existing public and cooperative
sector seed companies to achieve its objective of production, procurement and distribution of
quality seed and reduce the dependence of the country on imported seeds.
*****