Seed Legislation, Standards and Trade
Seed Legislation, Standards and Trade
This domain tests the legal framework for seed sale and quality in India and the trade meaning of labels and standards. Expect the Seeds Act, Seed Rules, Seed Control Order, PPV&FR Act and label calculations.
Legal and trade rules
- The Seeds Act, 1966 and Seed Rules, 1968 regulate quality of notified kinds/varieties and provide for certification.
- The Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 controls sale, export/import and licensing of seed.
- The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 protects registered varieties and farmers' rights.
- A seed label must show lot number, purity, germination, moisture, date of test, validity and producer details.
- Certification is a quality assurance process; a licence is permission to sell. Do not treat them as the same.
Worked example
A 10 kg bag is labelled 98% purity and 85% germination. Pure live seed (PLS) = 0.98 × 0.85 = 0.833, or 83.3%. The bag contains 10 × 0.833 = 8.33 kg PLS. If the recommendation is 100 kg PLS/ha, 0.1 ha needs 10 kg PLS, or 10 ÷ 0.833 = 12.0 kg of this lot.
Traps that cost marks
Treating a licence as certification; ignoring test validity; using purity alone to adjust seed rate; and assuming a labelled bag is certified.