“Good seed is half the harvest” is an old agrarian saying that captures a timeless truth: the destiny of agriculture is decided long before the plough touches the soil. In today’s India, where farming confronts climate change, market volatility, fake inputs and corporate concentration, this wisdom has returned to the centre of national debate with the proposed Seed Bill, 2025. The Union government has placed before the country a draft Seed Bill intended to replace the Seeds Act of 1966 and the Seed Control Order of 1983.

Earlier attempts to reform seed legislation – in 2004 and 2010 under the UPA, and in 2019 under the NDA ~ were withdrawn following sustained opposition from farmers’ organisations. The current Bill is thus the fourth attempt in two decades to overhaul India’s seed governance framework, reflecting both the urgency of reform and the depth of disagreement surrounding it. At its core, the proposed legislation seeks to modernise India’s seed sector by ensuring quality control, improving transparency, preventing the sale of spurious seeds, liberalising imports, encouraging research and development, and making quality seeds available to farmers at affordable prices.

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By opening the seed market to foreign agencies and introducing a centralised accreditation and traceability system, the government argues that Indian agriculture will gain access to superior technologies, higher-yielding varieties, and globally competitive standards. Seed quality, after all, is the lifeline of agriculture. Studies suggest that quality seed alone contributes 15-20 per cent to total crop productivity, and when combined with efficient water and nutrient management, this impact can rise to as much as 45 per cent. In a country where agricultural growth underpins food security for over 1.4 billion people, improving the quality of seed is not a policy choice but a necessity.

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One of the strongest justifications for reform is the growing menace of fake and substandard seeds. Nearly a quarter of India’s seed market is estimated to be under the control of spurious seed networks, causing enormous crop losses and pushing farmers into debt. The proposed Bill mandates compulsory registration, certification and licensing for all seeds meant for sale, import or export, covering not just grains but fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers, seedlings, tubers, grafts, and tissue culture plants. Only seeds that meet the Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards – including germination capacity, genetic purity, physical purity and seed health – can be sold, with these details clearly displayed on labels.

A key innovation in the Bill is the........

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