Briefing media after a two-hour meeting with some 20-odd farmer organisations in New Delhi, Chouhan said the consultation has only started and he welcomed any farmer body or even individual farmers to share their suggestions and the government will consider with an open mind. However, he refused to share any suggestions saying it would not be proper for him to divulge any of these since it may be taken otherwise.
“There is no point in a discussion as all those farmer organisations were also given opportunities to share suggestions earlier. I believe all of them must have sent their comments. It is for the government to take a call as the Bill may get further delayed in the parliamentary approval process,” said a former DG of a seed industry association. As assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and some other states are due early next year, the government should try to at least introduce the Bill in the first day of next session, he said.
Promoting ease of doing business
“The draft Seeds Bill, 2025 seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials available in the market, ensure farmers’ access to high-quality seeds at affordable rates, curb the sale of spurious and poor-quality seeds, protect farmers from losses, liberalise seed imports to promote innovation and access to global varieties, and safeguard the rights of farmers, ensuring transparency and accountability in seed supply chains,” the Agriculture Ministry said making the draft public for feedback.The draft Bill proposes to decriminalise minor offences, thereby promoting Ease of Doing Business and reducing compliance burden, while maintaining strong provisions to penalise serious violations effectively, it had said.
RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has earlier objected to the word ‘transgenic’ in the draft Bill demanding its removal. It its submission to the government BKS said: “The term ‘transgenic’ (referring to definitions under 2-zj-iii) shall be deleted from the document. Any form of transgenic or genetically modified seed shall not be taken into consideration.”
Gene editing mooted
Industry body ASSOCHAM, in partnership with Grant Thornton Bharat, last month released a report titled “Seeds of progress: Advancing global trade, innovation and sustainable agriculture” in which it has been suggested that gene editing among others should be scaled up. “Scale advanced breeding technologies including molecular breeding, genomic selection, gene editing, speed breeding, digital phenotyping and Artificial Intelligence-enabled breeding analytics to shorten the 10–15-year varietal development cycle and improve genetic gain,” the report said.Expressing concern over rising cotton import, founder chairman of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) and a former director general of ICAR R S Paroda has also argued for adopting next-generation GM technologies.
As Chouhan was trying to get the Bill introduced in Budget session (February 2026), he briefed media in January on the seed Bill where he admitted that there was no provision to compensate farmers in the draft Seeds Bill and they have to knock the doors of consumer forums to claim damages in case there is losses due to seeds. He said that price control order would be invoked only in exceptional circumstances while companies would be allowed to sell at rates fixed by them.
Published on September 10, 2026
