Farmer organisations such as the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) have issued a vehement condemnation of the bill, labelling it “anti-farmer”.
Published Nov 19, 2025 | 12:54 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 19, 2025 | 12:54 PM
The newly formed committee is tasked with conducting a detailed study of the draft bill.
Synopsis: Kerala has set up a six-member official committee to examine the Union government’s draft Seeds Bill 2025, amid concerns that the proposed law represents an attempted corporate takeover of the seed sector. While the Centre maintains that the bill introduces much-needed modernisation and quality controls, farmer organisations such as the All India Kisan Sabha have condemned it as “anti-farmer.”
Kerala has constituted a six-member official committee to examine the Union government’s draft Seeds Bill 2025, amid widespread concerns that the proposed legislation is a threat to farmers and agriculture.
The draft bill, made public on 12 November by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, proposes to replace the Seeds Act 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order 1983.
The ministry has described it as designed to align with modern agricultural and market needs, with a focus on quality assurance, farmer protection and supply chain transparency. It has invited feedback from the public and stakeholders till 11 December.
However, farmer organisations such as the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) have issued a vehement condemnation of the bill, labelling it “anti-farmer” and “pro-corporate.”
The formation of an official committee by Kerala is in direct response to a request from the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, seeking the state’s comments and suggestions on the draft legislation.
It is chaired by the Agriculture Department Principal Secretary and includes key figures such as the Director of Agriculture, the Additional Director of the Agriculture Department, representatives from the Law and Finance Departments, and an expert from Kerala Agricultural University.
Agriculture Department officials stated that the draft bill is being pitched as a game-changer, focusing on regulating the quality of seeds and planting materials to ensure their availability to farmers, curbing the sale of spurious and poor-quality seeds, and liberalising imports.
“We were also told that it also seeks to protect the rights of the farmers. On the enforcement side, the bill proposes to decriminalise petty offences to promote the Ease of Doing Business and reduce compliance burdens, while ensuring serious offences are effectively penalised,” an official added.
The newly formed committee is tasked with conducting a detailed study of the draft bill.
“Its primary objective will be to submit comprehensive feedback and recommendations to the Union Ministry, giving absolute priority to the state’s specific needs and concerns. Furthermore, the committee may actively seek and incorporate feedback from farmer associations across Kerala before finalising and submitting its recommendations,” the official said.
The Union government has said that the Seeds Bill 2025 is designed to curb the sale of spurious and poor-quality seeds by introducing key regulatory mechanisms.
It mandates the registration of all commercial seed varieties and requires registration for all seed producers, processors, dealers and distributors.
To oversee this framework, the bill provides for the constitution of a central seed committee and state seed committees, alongside a national register on seed varieties.
An excerpt of the bill
Furthermore, it strengthens enforcement with provisions to penalise serious violations, including fines up to ₹30 lakh and imprisonment for major offences, while promoting ease of doing business by proposing to decriminalise minor offences.
Crucially, the ministry says, the legislation aims to safeguard farmer rights.
It explicitly protects a farmer’s right to grow, sow, re-sow, save, use, exchange, share or sell their farm-saved seeds, though they are restricted from selling them under a brand name.
This provision, according to the ministry, acknowledges traditional farming practices.
The Centre also intends to liberalise seed imports to promote innovation and access to global varieties, ensuring farmers have access to high-quality seeds at affordable rates.
The AIKS argues that the bill is a political manoeuvre by the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance government designed to corporatise the seed sector and dispossess small farmers.
A key concern raised by AIKS is that the bill will create a conducive atmosphere for monopolies to engage in predatory pricing of seeds, significantly increasing the cost of cultivation for the peasantry, which is already grappling with an agrarian crisis.
The organisation strongly asserts that any new seed law must complement the existing farmer-centric safeguards established under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act 2001.
AIKS views the draft as introducing a heavily centralised and corporatised regulatory system that risks weakening farmers’ rights to save, use, exchange and sell seeds, effectively surrendering India’s seed sovereignty.
It has called for a massive struggle by farmers to resist the passage of this “anti-national, anti-peasant and anti-people bill.”
In stark contrast, the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) has welcomed the draft bill, describing it as a timely and much-needed step towards modernising the country’s seed regulatory framework.
The industry body believes some of the provisions in the bill will further streamline operations while maintaining strong safeguards against serious violations.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
