Protection of Plant

Varieties and
Farmers Rights Act
Contents
Introduction
India and WTO
Some Positive Features
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers
Rights Act
Definition of Farmer
Farmers are Eligible to Register Varieties
Other Features of the PPVFR Act
The Nine Rights of Farmers
Ownership on Plant Varieties

Impact of PBR on Farmers

Role of Panchayats
Introduction

When scientists are given the right to own new

varieties created by them, this right has to
concurrently recognize the right farmers have on
their varieties.

A new legislation called The Protection of Plant

Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001 enacted by
the Government of India, therefore, seeks to protect
the rights of farmers and breeders on plant varieties.

This Act recognizes the individual and community

roles played by farmers in the improvement and
conservation of varieties.

As farming is a family activity, individual and

community rights of farmers mean equitable rights
for men and women engaged in farming.
India and WTO
According to the Government of
India,
one of the reasons to legislate

the PPVFR Act

and
to allow PBR on plant varieties is

the TRIPS agreement India

signed under WTO.
 definition of Breeder
Plant Variety and Farmers Rightsevidence
2.) Wide scope of
Features 3.) To pre-empt
Common Knowledge
Feature
3.) Exclusion of
varieties containing
gene or gene
sequence involving
any technology which
is injurious to the life
or health of humans,
animals or plants
4.) Requirement of
passport data of the
parent lines for
registration
5.) Duration of
protection limited to
fifteen years
Act, SomeasPositive
proof
Likely Intent
dubious and
potentially harmful
technologies without
adequate empirical
evidence based on
research or trails
4.) To record and or
document in order to
pre-empt potential
disputes relating to
proprietary and
ownership
5.) To bring protected
plant varieties into
public domain as early
as possible

Contd
6.) Farmers Rights malpractices. To ensure
7.) Researchers Rights
8.) Reciprocity and 10.) To recognize and
special provisions for
convention countries
9.) Compulsory License
10.) Rights of the
communities
11.) National Gene
Fund
9.) To curb tendencies
of monopoly,
cartelization and other
related market
adequate availability of
the propagating
material
reward contribution of
local communities in
the evolution of
varieties.
11.) To address issues
of benefit sharing and
the conservation and
sustainable use of Plant
Genetic Resources
PROTECTION OF PLANT
VARIETIES AND FARMERS
RIGHTS ACT, 2001
InstitutionalFramework
Definition of Farmer
Farmers are Eligible to

Register Varieties
Other Features of the

PPVFR Act
Definition of Farmer
The Act defines the farmer as:-
a person cultivating crops or
conserving and preserving traditional
crop varieties or wild species of crops
and selecting them for their useful
properties.
In other words, the Act recognizes the
farmer as a cultivator, conserver and
breeder.
This definition embraces in all farmers,
landed or landless, male and female.
Farmers are Eligible to Register
Varieties

The PPVFR Act allows the

registration of three types of
plant varieties.
These are:-
farmers varieties,
extant varieties and
new varieties
variety also includes farmers
varieties as defined below:
1.)New varieties are those varieties
newly developed by either scientist
breeders or others including farmers.

2.)Extant varieties are those Indian

varieties bred by the public and private
research system and officially released
for cultivation by the State or Central
Government and have not completed 15
years from the date of release.
Extant varieties also include
farmers varieties and other
3.)Farmers varieties are those traditional
varieties developed and conserved by
farmers.

This includes the landraces, folk varieties and

wild species of crop plants, about which
farmers possess useful knowledge.

Most of these varieties are usually developed

and conserved collectively by community of
farmers rather than by individual farmers.

Hence, the Act recognizes that varieties

Other Features of the
PPVFR Act
Important features of the Act are
Important features of the Act are
the provisions with regard to:-
(1) researchers rights,
(2) benefit sharing between breeders

and farming or tribal communities

who have contributed to the genetic
diversity used by the breeder, and
(3) the establishment of a national

gene fund to promote conservation.

FARMERS RIGHTS
What are Farmers Rights?
Why Farmers Rights?
Origin of Farmers Rights
What is a Farmers Variety
Protection of Interests of

Farmers
THE NINE RIGHTS
OF
FARMERS
1.) Farmers Right on Seeds
2.) Farmers Right to Register
Traditional Varieties
3.) Farmers Right for Reward and

Recognition
4.) Farmers Right for Benefit Sharing
5.) Farmers Right to get

Compensation for the Loss suffered

from the Registered Variety
Contd
6.) Farmers Right to receive
Compensation for Undisclosed
use of Traditional Varieties
7.) Farmers Right for the Seeds

of Registered Varieties
8.) Farmers Right for Receiving

Free Services
9.) Farmers Right for Protection

Against Innocent Infringement

Farmers rights:
A farmer is any person who cultivates crops either by
cultivating the land himself, or by directly supervising the
cultivation of land through any other persons. A farmer
can also mean any person who conserves and preserves
any wild species or traditional varieties, or adds values to
them through selection and identification of their useful
properties.
A farmer can save, use, sow, resow, exchange, share or
sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected
under the PPV&FR Act.
He has the same privilege with respect to a breeder of a
variety.
A farmers variety shall be entitled for registration if a
declaration has been made that the initial variety has been
lawfully obtained.
A farmer can claim damages if the seed of the protected
variety does not give the yield as stated by the breeder.
The farmer as such cannot sell branded seeds of a
protected variety.
Branded seed, according to the Act means any seed put
in a package or any other container and labeled in a
manner indicating that the seed is of a protected variety
OWNERSHIP ON
PLANT
VARIETIES
1.) Own Plant Varieties
2.) Protect Plant Varieties
The Government of India, which enacted this
legislation, states four reasons
for introducing the PPVFR Act:-
1) To protect the intellectual property associated

with the development of plant varieties in

fulfillment of an agreement signed by India under
the World Trade Organization (WTO).
2)To recognize the rights of farmers arising from

their contribution in conserving, improving and

making available plant genetic resources to
develop new plant varieties.
3) To stimulate public and private investment in

plant breeding to accelerate agricultural

 creator of intellectual works are called Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR).

Intellectual creations are of different kinds: writing

poetry or a novel, composing music, creating a work
of art, inventing a new technology, discovering a new
medicine, producing a new chemical, creating a
market brand, etc

IPR on plant variety means that the person who

establishes the ownership right on the plant variety
alone has the legal right to produce, store, process
and market the seed of that variety for as many
years as the ownership is valid.

Ownership right is established on the basis of

evidence that the person has contributed to the
development and conservation of a variety. This right
is called the Plant Breeders Right (PBR).

The PBR can be licensed, sold or inherited.

Rights under the Act: Breeders rights
Plant variety protection provides legal protection of
a plant variety to a breeder in the form of Plant
Breeder's Rights.
Under the Act, breeder means a person or group of
persons or a farmer or group of farmers or any
institution, which has bred, evolved or developed
any variety.

A certificate of registration for a variety issued by

the Authority under this act provide breeder with
the following rights;
Breeders will have exclusive rights to produce, sell,
market, distribute, import or export the protected
variety seed and /or propagating material of the
protected variety.
Breeder can appoint agent/ licensee and may
exercise for civil remedy in case of infringement of
rights.
If the breeders variety protected under the Act is an
Impact of PBR on
Farmers

The protection of the traditional rights of farmers,

to save seed from their own crops and

to use it for sowing, exchanging, sharing or selling,

one of the important recognitions accorded to farmers

for their past, present and future contribution in
conserving and

making available plant genetic resources to develop

new plant varieties.

The PBR allowed to plant breeders on new varieties has

to be inclusive of these traditional rights of farmers.

And like the professional plant breeders, farmers are

also eligible to receive PBR on their varieties.
Researchers rights:
Researcher can use any of the registered
variety under the Act for conducting
experiment or research.
This includes the use of a variety as an

initial source of variety for the purpose of

developing another variety but repeated
use needs prior permission of the registered
breeder.
Role of Panchayat
Every Panchayat can help its
farmers by doing three
important things:-
1.) In establishing possession of the

varieties by the communities

2.) In promotion of conservation of

local plant varieties and in

generating awareness among its
farming and tribal communities on
variety protection and farmers rights
provided in the PPVFR Act