A potential seedbed for private profits (How private seed firms will make hay)

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 A potential seedbed for private profits (How private seed firms will make hay)

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• Seeds Bill 2019: This is the third version of the Seeds Bill to reach the Indian Parliament. The core idea is around commercial value of seeds.
• TRIPS and UPOV: India joined the TRIPS (as part of WTO) in 1994. Then it joined UPOV Convention in 2002. Both related to recognition of IPR for seeds, and protection of rights of "breeders" while using seeds. So, farmers couldn't freely use and exchange seeds produced as part of farming.
• (TRIPS - Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights, UPOV - Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants Convention, IPR - Intellectual Property Rights).
• Contrary conventions: There were two others that gave farmers the freedom to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds.

1. CBD 1992 - The Convention on Biological Diversity
2. ITPGRFA 2001 - International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

• Signatory to all four: India has signed on all four, so any legislation has to respect all. The PPVFR Act 2001 tried doing that.  (Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act)

1. It used the spirit of TRIPS - IPRs to be incentives for technological innovation
2. It recognised 3 roles of farmers - cultivator, breeder and conserver.
3. As cultivators, farmers were entitled to plant-back rights. As breeders, they were plant breeders. As conservers, they could get rewarded from a National Gene Fund.

• New Seeds Bill: Govt. thinks it will help (a) enhance seed replacement rates in Indian agriculture, (b) specify standards of registration of seed varieties, and (c) enforce registration from seed producers to seed retailers. But the Act must be in line with the PPVFR Act.
• Private seed companies: They run a low-volume, high-value business, and hence police the farms to ensure farmers buy their seeds every season. Farmers should use certified seeds, rather than farm-saved seeds, to get higher yields. But should they buy only from private firms? Can govt institutions not supply certified seeds at affordable costs?
• Ground reality: More than half of Indian seed production is now private, in hands of firms with foreign control. Those firms are dictating policy too - seed price deregulation, free import and export of germplasm, self-certification of seeds, restrictions on saved seeds usage by farmers, etc. The new Seeds Bill only reinforces private interests.
• Six problem areas: The Seeds Bill suffers from these -

1. It insists on compulsory registration of seeds while PPVFR Act was voluntary. So if a breeder registers a seed in new law (but not in PPVFR), he gets exclusive marketing rights. Farmer gets nothing as benefit-sharing was part of PPVFR Act.
2. New Bill gives gaps where private firms need not identify earlier contributors to any seed, thereby monopolising profits.
3. New Bill allows re-registration of seeds after validity period, thereby ensuring "ever-greening" of IPR.
4. Poor regulation on seed prices
5. While PPVFR Act gave compensation rights to farmers for non-performing seeds, the new Bill asks them to approach consumer courts.
6. New Bill allows for compesation if a seed does not perform subject to "Given Conditions". That makes it meaningless.

• Moving towards hybrids: Private firms are now moving away from varieties, and into "hybrids". That is because they can technologically constrain reuse. Laws may become useless with hybrids. India needs to strengthen the government agri research systems and give choice between hybrids, varieties and farm-saved seeds.
• Summary : The new Seeds Bill is reinforcing the monopoly power of private seed firms.

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