Seed Act 1966

Guidelines to Farmers

The Seed Act 1966 was passed by the Indian Parliament on 29^th December 1966 and it came into force from 2^nd October, 1969. In addition, Seed Regulation Order was also passed in December 1983. The sole objective of this Act and Order has been to ensure that the Indian farmers get good quality seeds of important crops. Important provisions and guidelines for the farmers are given below:

1. The Act is applicable for the seeds notified by the Central Government from time to time.

2. Seed quality is regulated at two stages viz. Seed production and seed certification. For this purpose, seed testing laboratories and seed certification agencies are to be established in each state. Maharashtra State has already fulfilled this requirement.

Sale of Seeds:

1. Any institution, agency, company or individual wishing to do business in seeds must obtain necessary permission for buying and selling seeds. Without permission such business cannot be carried out.

2. Licence holder must keep all seeds notified by the Central Govt. for sale.

3. The seeds to be sold to farmers must satisfy the minimum quality. Standards of physical purity and germination percentage fixed under the Seed Act.

4. The bags or packets containing seeds for sale must have specifications fixed for that particular seed. These labels are of different colours for different seeds for the convenience of buying farmers:

1. Breeder's seed - Yellow colour

2. Foundation seed - White colour

3. Certified seed - Blue colour

1. The labels must contain following information on them.

1. Seed - Name and variety

2. Lot number

3. Physical purity (in percent) and germination ( in percent)

4. Date of testing

5. Weight of the seed in the bag/packet

6. Seed class/category.

7. Expiry date/viability period

8. Name and address of seed producer.

9. Signature of the Officer of seed certification agency.

Care by farmers:

Farmers should take following care while purchasing the seeds.

1. They should buy required seed from the authorized Licence holders only.

2. They should obtain printed receipt from the dealer/shopkeeper for the seed purchased and payment made. The receipt should contain important specifications of the seed written on the label viz. Name of the buyer, name of the crop and variety, plot numbers, producer's name, signature of shopkeeper,dealer, etc.

3. While buying the seed they should see carefully all the entries on the label particularly germination, percentage, date of seed test, etc.

4. They should ensure that the label is duly signed by the officer of Seed Certification agency.

5. The bag should be opened from the button side keeping the stitches of the upper side and the label intact. Empty bags with tag and the printed receipt should be preserved for seasonal period.

6. If there are two or more bags of seed, the seed from them should be sown separately without mixing.

7. The seed should be sown when there is optimum moisture and the date of sowing should be recorded.

8. If there is any complaint about the quality of seed, the matter should be reported to Seed Inspector or to Agricultural Development Officer of Zilla Parishad of the concerned district. There is a committee at each district which actually visits the plots of complaining farmers, sees condition of the plot and verifies the receipts and the label or tag. If the committee feels that the seed was not of genuine quality and the complaint was real, then the suitable action is taken against both seed producer and the dealer or shopkeeper. If there is financial loss to the farmer, he can approach the District Consumer Forum for compensation.

Quality Standards:

The physical purity and germination percentage of some seeds as a measure of quality standard are given below:

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