The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, has prepared the Draft Seeds Bill, 2025, aligning it with the country’s current agricultural and regulatory needs.
“The proposed legislation is intended to replace the existing Seeds Act, 1966, and the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983,” the Ministry said on Thursday.
According to the Ministry, the Draft Seeds Bill, 2025 seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting materials available in the market, ensure farmers’ access to high-quality seeds at affordable prices, curb the sale of spurious or poor-quality seeds, and protect farmers from financial losses.
The Bill also aims to liberalise seed imports to encourage innovation, promote access to global varieties, and safeguard farmers’ rights by enhancing transparency and accountability across seed supply chains.
On the enforcement front, the draft legislation proposes to decriminalise minor offences to promote Ease of Doing Business and reduce compliance burdens, while retaining stringent provisions to effectively penalise serious violations.
As part of the pre-legislative consultation process, the Draft Seeds Bill, 2025, along with the prescribed feedback format, has been made available on the Ministry’s official website: [https://agriwelfare.gov.in](https://agriwelfare.gov.in).
“All stakeholders and members of the public are invited to submit their comments and suggestions on the draft Bill and its provisions. Feedback may be sent by email to jsseeds-agri@gov.in in MS Word or PDF format by December 11, 2025,” the Ministry added.