The Centre has asked Andhra Pradesh to abandon its plans to come out with a separate Seed Bill.
The Bill proposes to regulate retail prices of the seed and the royalty component in the case of transgenic seeds. It also empowers the State to withdraw permission for genetic technology if it poses danger to public security.
The Union Government has written a letter to the State Agriculture Ministry, saying the Bill would be redundant as it (the Centre) is coming out with a similar Bill at the national level.
Sources said that the Centre is not keen on States regulating seed prices, which, it thinks, should be market driven.
According to an industry source, the letter hinted at the supremacy of the Central law. “It wanted the State to stop the process forthwith. The State’s effort might have caused a fear at the Centre that other States could follow suit. The Union Home Ministry too made enquiries in this regard,” the source said.
Notwithstanding the Centre’s letter, the State Government has decided to go ahead with the Bill. AP’s Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana told Business Line: “We are going to introduce it when the House re-assembles later this month after the recess. We have sent it to the Legal Department for vetting.”
Confirming the communication from the Centre, he, however, called it only an ‘advisory’. “The small seed producers are at the receiving end from the seed companies. They are not getting their due despite the hard work. There are some other issues too that call for a law now,” he said.
The ongoing tussle is being seen as a fight between the Andhra Pradesh Government and the Agriculture Ministry — a portfolio handled by the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. “There is no need for States to impose any control now, since the country has been on the path of liberalisation for several years now. Through the proposed Bill, AP will be attempting to regulate the industry further, which is not desirable,” a source said.
State subject
Agriculture is a State subject and States such as Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are having a say in fixing the Bt cotton seed prices, a move already challenged by the industry. However, attempts by Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to emulate Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have not been successful.
“It will be a draconian move, if the State Government is successful in getting the proposed Seeds Bill passed in the Assembly. It will definitely hurt investments in the State,” the source said.
The State Bill seeks to punish companies for failure to deliver on the germination and yield promises. It has also made it mandatory for firms to register their varieties with the Registrar of Seeds.
The seed industry in Andhra Pradesh, considered the seed capital and accounting for over half the Bt seeds produced in the country, had opposed the introduction of the State Bill, calling it redundant.
It argued that there are several Central laws that already cover the aspects the State Bill was seeking to address.
The National Seed Bill is waiting for the Rajya Sabha nod nearly a decade after it was introduced in Parliament in 2004 under the UPA Government.
(With inputs from Vishwanath Kulkarni, New Delhi)