Synthesis Presentation

1. NATIONAL SEMINAR
Regulations &
Governance Issues in
Indian Seed Sector
Regulations &
Governance Issues
in Indian Seed
Sector
Anjani Kumar
International Food Policy Research Institute
South Asia Regional Office, New Delhi
September 27, 2023
ICAR Lecture Hall,
Second Floor, NASC Complex,
Pusa, New Delhi

2. Objectives of the seminar
• To get up-to-date information on the status of seed legislation and policies in India and
their effects on the development of the private and public seed sector
• To identify the regulatory barriers and opportunities which are critical to closer alignment
of seed policies and regulations in the country.
• To provide a multi-stakeholder forum for informed discussions on governance and
regulatory issues in Indian seed sector
• How to make Indian seed system vibrant to ensure nutrition security and sustainability of
food system.

3. Structure of the seminar
• Inaugural Session
• Three technical sessions
• Inter-related issues on governance and regulations
• Presentations by researchers, regulators, practitioners and users
• Two panel discussions
• Barriers and opportunities for accelerated development and adoption of varieties
• Challenges for registration, notification & certification of new varieties
• Concluding session
• Synthesis of the deliberations
• Way forward
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4. Inaugural session
Key messages
• Seminar- a part of one CGIAR’s Seed Equal initiative.
• This initiative focuses on providing
o healthier food
o environment friendly production
o resilient food system
• Regulations and governance- very critical as India is a dominant player in
global seed market.
• Solutions and policies should be contextualized at the local, regional, and
global level due to heterogeneity in plant genetic resources as well as agro-
ecologies.
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5. Inaugural session
Key messages
• Over- and under-regularization affect the growth and utility of our seed sector.
• Experience from different countries (including India) on seed sector:
o low-cost registration of new varieties.
o different regulations for hybrids
• India seed sector policies and regulations should be able to answer the following:
o Is the current registration and notification system still relevant and desirable?
o Do seed subsidies induce the desired changes in farmer behavior, e.g., increased varietal
turnover?
o Are the gains from trade being fully realized through existing agreements, export promotion
efforts, and import barriers?
o Can we treat the variety as global commons?
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6. Inaugural session
Key messages
▪ Increase investment in the seed sector
▪ There are issues related to regulation and governance of our Indian seed system.
It is difficult to trace the development of a seed.
▪ Regulations are not uniform/common across the states, which affects our growth.
▪ Deregulate genetic modification trade.
▪ IP protections are needed to raise investment.
▪ Involve industry while developing policies and regulations.
▪ Emphasis on promotion of indigenous varieties by GI and IP
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7. Inaugural session
Key messages
• Seed is a package of several technologies.
• the technologies like being water efficient, pest resistant, and/or resilient against drought.
• There have been many achievements related to Indian seed system.
• In the last decade, more than 2000 seeds varieties for different crops have been released, out of
which around 1800 are climate resilient and around 150 are biofortified crops.
• In future, science & technology will play an important role in the development and
regulation of the seeds. It will help to enhance the traceability of seeds
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8. Inaugural session
Key messages
• There is a need to create a community of practice in India,
• which includes private sector, civil society organizations, and scientists from ICAR.
• Lags in policy formulation and technological developments
• Co-existence of multiple seed value chains
• To promote the seed sector, collaboration and partnership with industry is very
important.
• Enhance coordination and coherence with different state governments for efficient
seed value chains
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9. Session I
• Seed regulations in India
• Breeders’ rights and farmers’ rights under PPVFR Act
• GMO development and adoption under Indian seed regulations
• Commercialization of seed varieties
• Panel discussion on Barriers and opportunities for accelerated
development and adoption of varieties
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10. Key messages
• The proposed new seed law includes
• Change in the Definition of agriculture
• Registration and other sub-committees of the Committee and their functions
• Maintenance of National Register of varieties
• Registration of any Variety including transgenics, Seed producer, Seed dealer, Plant nursery, Seed
processing unit
• Evaluation of performance and compensation to farmers
• Powers to specify minimum limits of germination, purity, seed health, etc.
• Accreditation of Seed Certification Agencies/ STLs
• Offences and punishments.
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11. Key messages
• Harmonization of licensing system across states
• Revision of New Policy on Seed Development
• Seed traceability system – robust data base
• Strong enforcement of regulations
• Phasing out of tender system
• Development of mechanism to regulate un-notified varieties/hybrids
• Devise a system for quality control of Truthfully labelled Seed
• Accreditation/ notification of private seed testing/ certification agencies
• Digitalization of data for transparency and efficiency.
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12. Key messages
• Urgent need to step up seed research to help farmers tackle existing and emerging
challenges in fields. Oilseeds and Cotton require immediate attention.
• A common strategic approach required among Centre, States and Political parties to
use modern science and technology to improve yields, fight climate change and to
make farming profitable for farmer
• Seed industry should be treated as a partner with Govt and ICAR
in achieving these objectives
• Encourage research in seed and biotechnology
• Improve Ease of Doing Seed Business
• Predictable & Science based deregulation of biotech traits.
• Prioritization of GM crops
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13. Panel discussion I
• Enhance dialogue between public and private sector
• Need to bring more transparency in the functioning of the private seed industries
• The idea of joint trials and demonstration was mooted
• Simplify the governance system. Some of the procedures may need review.
• Capacity strengthening of the informal sector is very critical
• Understanding the need of the market is necessary
• Improve the data collection and information sharing. Seed Associations should take
the lead in this endeavour.
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14. Session II
▪ Genome editing in agriculture
▪ New dimensions to seed quality assurance under the seed law
▪ Enforcing seed regulations in the States
▪ Key messages
▪ Very insightful message on genome editing in agriculture, covering the technology, regulation, and
traits of genome edited crops.
▪ Discussed genome edits classification based on edit type and mechanism of repair that is SDN 1,
SDN 2 and SDN 3.
▪ The review and analysis of risk assessment of genome edited crops right from process
complexity, product features, and traceability of techniques relative to unregulated techniques.
▪ Guidelines for the safety assessment of genome edited plants and data requirements for risk
assessment.
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15. ▪Key messages
▪ Detailed introduction of seed quality assurance and the significance of new
development and issues in seed scenarios.
▪ Key parameters and critical stages of seed quality assurance and control.
▪ The seed certification, new dimensions in quality assurance, molecular markers,
DNA fingerprinting, automation in quality assurance and germination.
▪ The new technologies for quality enhancement like seed coating, pelleting,
encrusting etc. along with new priming technologies like bio stimulants, nano
priming, and slow priming at low temperature.
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16. ▪Key messages
• Fragmented Seed Sector- > 500 public & private seed companies of varying sizes
• Non-uniformity in seed law enforcement across the country
• Seed regulations biased focus on post-production phase
• Need proper in-house regulation mechanism on production, processing, packing,
storage etc. for labelled seeds
• Seed laws – needs relook - clear cut and science based guidelines on trials, bio-safety
measures, and post-release control measures for GM crops
• Need-uniformity in seed testing protocols
• varied test results among the states and between public and private
• Low emphasis on varietal registration & seed health testing
• Need comprehensive data base on seed law enforcement
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17. Session III
• Harmonization of regulations for better governance of Indian seed
sector
• Facilitating seed movement in APAC region
• Regulations to accelerate innovation in seed industry
• G-20 perspective on regulations and governance of seed sector
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18. Key messages
▪ Develop a National Seed Register and data base for varietal fitment and targeted varietal positioning and seed
planning
▪ Harmonize licensing, rules, and guidelines between the states a
▪ Digitizing indenting processes for transparent and efficient demand aggregation for better market intelligence and
inventory planning
▪ Decentralizing breeder seed production and provisioning
▪ Robust compensation policies for farmers for poor quality seed supply
▪ Incentivization support for alternative farmer led seed institutions
▪ Digital seed traceability
▪ Making seed health an essential thrust area in quality certification
▪ Seed morphological factors along with agronomic parameters (image analysis )
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19. Key messages
▪ Key challenges and our efforts to continue for enhancing seed movement in APAC
• Update and enhance regulations to ensure the quality, safety, and sustainability of seeds
• Aligning practices with international standards
• Innovation-Friendly Regulations
• Safety and Labeling Regulations for Bio-Fortified Seeds
• Climate-Resilience Certification
• Information Dissemination Regulations
• Compliance with evolving SPS measures for Seed Trade
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20. Key messages
▪Debottleneck regulatory processes
▪ One Nation One policy: Harmonization of policy between
central and state Governments
▪Expand opportunities through exports
▪Need to Improve Scale and Speed of Innovation
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21. Way forward
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22. Thank You !
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