PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETY & FARMERS RIGHT ACT Plant breeding K Vanangamudi TNPSC AO, HO, ADH, AAO, AHO EXAMS ICAR AIEEA JRF & SRF for PG admissions exams ICAR NET, ARS & STO (T-6) exams IBPS – AFO exams PPV & FR Act 2001 Notable features of PPV & FR Act Farmers rights Breeders Rights Extant variety Essentially Derived Variety (EDV) Researchers right Registration of plant varieties National Gene Fund Plant Variety Journal of India (PVJ of India)

1. PLANT BREEDING
PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETY & FARMERS RIGHT ACT
Dr. K. Vanangamudi
Formerly Dean (Agriculture), AC & RI, Coimbatore,
Dean, Adhiparashakthi Agricultural College, Kalavai,
Professor and Head - Seed Science and Technology,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.
Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act (2001) (PPV & FR Act)
 With the signing of TRIPs agreement of the World Trade Organization
(WTO), India has agreed to provide protection to plant varieties.
 GOI enacted PPV&FR Act in 2001 and the regulations for implementing
the act were formulated in 2003.
 Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is the nodal agency for
implementing the PPV&FR Act through The Protection of Plant Varieties
and Farmer Rights Authority which came into force in November, 2005.
 PPV&FR act has 11 chapters, 4 schedules and 97 sections.
Notable features of Act
 Legislation gives concurrent attention to the rights of farmers, breeders
and researchers and protection of public interest.
 To establish an effective system of protection of plant varieties.
 To recognize the rights of farmers for their contribution to evolve
Farmers Variety.
 To promote food security and eradicating inequality through competitive
plant breeding.
Objectives
 To recognize and protect the farmers rights for their contribution made at
any time in conserving, improving and making available plant genetic
resources for the development of new plant varieties.
 To encourage the development of new varieties of plants.

2.  To accelerate agricultural development and protect Plant Breeders Rights
and to stimulate investment in research and development for breeding new
varieties.
 To facilitate the growth of the seed industry to ensure the availability of
good quality seeds and plant materials to the farmers.
Salient features of the act
Farmers rights (Sec. 39)
 During the long tradition of agriculture, farmers have selected plant types
for specific traits and product value.
 They considered, improved and selected variety out of both wild and
domesticated germplasm.
 They also contributed to the development of new varieties and
intellectually towards variety improvement and they should be recognized
and rewarded
 Farmers Variety shall be registered, if they fulfill DUS criteria as per
PPV&FR Act, 2001 rules and regulations.
Farmers variety evolution process
 Land race: Mixture of all sorts
 Folk variety: Heterogeneous population
 Farmers variety: Traditional, more uniform and distinct

3. Breeders Rights (Sec. 27 and 28)
 Breeder of a registered variety shall have an exclusive right to produce,
sell, market, distribute, import or export the variety.
Criteria for protection/registration of varieties
 Novelty: A variety should not have been commercially exploited more than
one year.
 Distinctiveness: Distinguishable for characters.
 Uniformity: uniform in appearance in specified environment.
 Stability. Stable in appearance over successive generations in specified
environment
Extant variety
 Extant variety means a variety available in India which is
o Notified under section 5 of the Seeds Act, 1966 (54 of 1966)
or
o Farmer’s variety
or
o A variety about which there is common knowledge
or
o Any other variety which is in public domain
 In the case of an Extant Variety, unless a breeder or his successor
establishes his right, the Central Government and in cases where such
Extant Variety is notified for a State or for any area under section 5 of the
Seeds Act, 1966 (54 of 1966) the State Government, shall be deemed to
be the owner of such rights.
Essentially Derived Variety (EDV)
 A variety essentially derived from an “Initial Variety” can also be
registered/protected provided that it differs from the “Initial Variety” for
at least one character and meets DUS needs.
 There must be an authorization by the breeder of the initial variety to the
breeder of the EDV based on a mutually agreed terms and conditions.
 Material derived through single gene transfer, recurrent back cross, CMS
line, mutant, soma-clonal variants, chimera, poly-embryo, ploidy level
changes and deletion/substitution lines can come under EDV.
Researchers right
 Researchers shall have right to use registered plant variety for
experiments or research purposes or as an initial source of variation for

4. the purpose of creating other new varieties, except the repeated use of a
protected variety for commercial production of another variety.
Duration of protection of varieties
Registration of plant varieties
 Act covers all plants except the microbes.
 Plant species falling under, food crops, oilseeds, fibres and fodder crops,
spices, aromatic and medicinal plants, vegetables, fruits, ornamental
crops, plantation crops, biofuel plants, mulberry, kusum (Ceylon oak, lac
tree), ber, palas (Flame of The Forest, parrot tree), forest trees, urban
trees, mangroves etc. will be gradually brought under the Act.
 Authority has started the registration of plant varieties covering twelve
plant species (Cereals, pulses, fodders and vegetable) from May 20, 2007.
 Under the Act, any variation within a species that satisfies the definition
of varieties and fulfill the criteria of DUS (Distinctiveness, Uniformity
and Stability) can be registered.

5. Benefit sharing and registration of varieties
 On Registration of the variety, any person or group of person may submit
his claim of benefit sharing in the prescribed form with prescribed fee to
the Authority, if the material has been used in the development of that
variety. The Authority shall take the decision on the matter after
considering the following points:
o Extent and nature of use of the genetic material in development of
the variety relating to which the benefit sharing has been claimed.
o Commercial utility and demand in the market of the variety.
Important attachment with the application forms
 Technical questionnaire
 Affidavit that the terminal technology and the genetic use restriction
technology are not involved
 Test fee
Registration of varieties in first phase
 Twelve crops species have been identified for registration in first batch.
 They are rice, bread wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea,
pigeon pea, green gram, black gram, lentil, field pea and kidney bean
Compulsory licensing (Sec. 47)
 After expiry of 3 years from issue of certificate of registration.

6. National Gene Fund (Sec. 45)
 A National Gene Fund shall be established and will receive contributions
from
o Annual fees
o Benefit sharing
o Contribution
 Gene fund shall be utilized for:
o Benefit sharing
o Compensation
o On-farm conservation and sustainable use of land races and
traditional varieties.
Flow of national Gene Fund
Plant Variety Journal of India (PVJ of India)
 Authority is publishing Plant Variety Journal of India which contains
information pertaining to the Registration of Plant Varieties including
details of the registered varieties and several other transactions related to
the Act.
 Periodicity is four issues per year.
Plant variety registry
 A National Register of Plant Varieties is be maintained at the Head
Office.

7.  Register contains the name of the registered plant variety with the name,
addresses and rights of their breeders and particulars of the
denominations of the registered variety.
 Thank you