Implementing farmers' rights under the plant variety protection law in India: Analysing the complex regulatory framework and its impact

Abstract

The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 (PPVFR Act) in India was touted as a unique law when it was enacted as it included farmers' rights provisions as well. The legislation contains some tall promises, which, if implemented in their truest sense, would assist the farmers in getting recognition and rewards for the conservation efforts that they have put in. This paper examines the implementation of the Act from the viewpoint of the delegated/subordinate/secondary legislation, which constitute the practical framework for implementing the primary legislation in practice. Although the PPVFR Act includes a separate chapter on farmers' rights, it is not certain whether the legislation's stated objective of protecting the rights of farmers has been realised or not. The uncertainty is mainly because of the inconsistencies between the PPVFR Act and the delegated/subordinate legislation, which will be the focus area of this paper. The present paper contends that the ineffective implementation of the PPVFR Act can be attributed to the arbitrary actions undertaken by the central government and PPVFR Authority in contravention of the statute via public notices, rules, and regulations. This, in turn, has contributed to the deplorable plight of the farmers in multiple ways.