BRS opposes Draft Seeds Bill, urges Centre not to hand over control to corporate firms

HYDERABAD

Party working president KT Rama Rao said that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will strongly oppose the 2025 Seed Bill proposed by the Union Government as it is against the interests of farmers.

He demanded that the Center withdraw the bill and move forward only after holding consultations with farmers, farmer unions, experts and political parties. He pointed out that the bill lacks clarity on measures to prevent fake seeds and does not guarantee timely compensation to farmers who suffer losses due to fake or counterfeit seeds.

Stating that there are provisions in the bill that allow corporate companies to influence seed pricing and that the authority previously given to State Governments to regulate seed prices will be lost, the BRS leader said that the law does not hold companies responsible for the production of fake seeds and puts the responsibility only on the sellers and the supply chain.

Moreover, there are no strong provisions either to blacklist companies at the national level or to impose heavy penalties or strict jail terms in cases related to fake seeds, Mr. Rama Rao said on Thursday. He noted that in many parts of the country, farmers still follow traditional practices of saving, producing and using their own seeds. However, the Draft Bill does not provide any protection to such farmer groups.

The bill also includes easy provisions allowing foreign companies to sell their seeds in the country without proper trials, putting national seed security and seed sovereignty at risk. The Bill gives no consideration to the State Governments or agricultural universities for this matter.

Further, Mr. Rama Rao said, the Bill paves the way for the Center to dominate seed-related issues that are vital to agriculture in the US, thereby weakening the ability of States to frame their own laws according to local conditions. He suggested that the Center should put aside attempts to hand over control to corporate companies in the name of “ease of doing business”.

He explained that the amendments proposed by the BRS emphasize seed sovereignty, domestic biosecurity and the need to avoid domination by the Center over State matters. A roundtable will be held soon to make additional recommendations. The party also wants strict provisions to ensure that farmers who suffer losses due to fake seeds receive compensation based on maximum potential yield within a fixed period of time.