New Delhi, Nov 13 (NationPress) The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has called for feedback from stakeholders regarding the proposed draft Seeds Bill, 2025, which is designed to guarantee quality seeds, uphold farmers’ rights, and facilitate a smoother business environment.

The draft Seeds Bill, 2025 aims to govern the quality of seeds and planting materials in the market, ensuring that farmers have access to high-quality seeds at reasonable prices, combating the distribution of fraudulent and substandard seeds, shielding farmers from financial losses, liberalizing seed imports to encourage innovation and access to worldwide varieties, and protecting farmers' rights while ensuring transparency and accountability in the seed supply chain.

On the compliance front, the draft Bill suggests decriminalizing minor infractions, thus enhancing the Ease of Doing Business and alleviating the compliance burden, while still maintaining robust penalties for serious breaches.

This proposed legislation aims to replace the existing Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983.

As part of the pre-legislative consultation process, the draft Seeds Bill, 2025, along with the feedback format, is accessible on the Ministry’s official website https://agriwelfare.gov.in.

All stakeholders and the general public are encouraged to offer their comments and suggestions regarding the draft Bill and its provisions. Feedback can be emailed to jsseeds-agri[at]gov[dot]in.

Submissions can be made in MS Word or PDF format by December 11, 2025.

The Ministry emphasizes the importance of providing enhanced seeds to farmers to boost crop yields and elevate their incomes.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh recently inaugurated a cutting-edge vegetable and flower seed processing and packaging facility at the National Seeds Corporation (NSC) located at Pusa Institute. He also virtually launched five NSC seed processing plants situated in Bareilly, Dharwad, Hassan, Suratgarh, and Raichur.

The vegetable seed processing facility in Beej Bhawan at the Pusa complex has a processing capability of 1 tonne per hour, while the other five NSC plants each have a capacity of 4 tonnes per hour. These advanced facilities are designed to ensure the availability of high-quality seeds for farmers and to improve seed production quality nationwide.

During the event, Chouhan also introduced the ‘Seed Management 2.0’ system and an online seed booking platform aimed at farmers. This platform will enable farmers to book their seed necessities online, thereby ensuring greater transparency and accessibility. He stressed the importance of ensuring that quality seeds reach small and marginal farmers to enhance their incomes.