The Plant Varieties and Farmers' Right Act,2001 has been enacted to provide for the establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the development of new varieties of plants. According to the Act, the term 'variety' means "a plant grouping except micro organism within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, which can be:- (i) defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype of that plant grouping; (ii) distinguished from any other plant grouping by expression of at least one of the said characteristics; and (iii) considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated, which remains unchanged after such propagation; and includes propagating material of such variety, extant variety, transgenic variety, farmers’ variety and essentially derived variety".

The Central Government has established the 'Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority' in Ministry of Agriculture to administer the various provisions of the Act and take measures to promote the development of new varieties of plants and to protect the rights of the farmers and breeders. The Central Government has also established the 'Plant Varieties Registry' which shall be located in the head office of the Authority. The Authority is empowered to appoint a Registrar-General of plant varieties and other Registrars for the purpose of registration of plant varieties.

The main provisions of the Act are:-

• The Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish an Authority to be known as the 'Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority' for the purposes of this Act. Also, there is a 'Plant Varieties Registry' for the purpose of facilitating the registration of varieties at such places, as the Authority may think fit.



• For the purposes of this Act, a Register called the 'National Register of Plant Varieties' shall be kept at the head office of the Registry, wherein shall be entered the names of all the registered plant varieties with the names and addresses of their respective breeders, the rights of such breeders in respect of the registered varieties, the particulars of the denomination of each registered variety, its seed or other propagating material along with specification of salient features thereof and such other matters as may be prescribed.



• An application to the registrar for registration of any variety shall be made by:-
  
  
  • Any person claiming to be the breeder of the variety; or
  
  
  
  • Any successor of the breeder of the variety; or
  
  
  
  • any person being the assignee of the breeder of the variety in respect of the rights to make such application; or
  
  
  
  • Any farmers or group of farmers or community of farmers claiming to be the breeder of the variety; or
  
  
  
  • Any person authorized in the prescribed manner by a person specified above to make application on his behalf; or
  
  
  
  • Any university or publicly funded agricultural institution claiming to be the breeder of the variety.
    
    



• A new variety shall be registered under this Act, if it conforms to the criteria of novelty, distinctiveness, uniformity and stability (DUS) . While, an extant variety shall be registered under this Act within a specified period if it conforms to such criteria of distinctiveness, uniformity and stability as shall be specified under the regulations.



• A new variety shall be deemed to be -
  
  
  • Novel, if, at the date of filing of the application for registration for protection, the propagating or harvested material of such variety has not been sold or otherwise disposed of by or with the consent of its breeder or his successor for the purposes of exploitation of such variety - (i) in India, earlier than one year; or (ii) outside India, in the case of trees or vines earlier than six years, or in any other case, earlier than four years.
  
  
  
  • Distinct, if it is clearly distinguishable by at least one essential characteristic from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge in any country at the time of filing of the application.
  
  
  
  • Uniform, if subject to the variation that may be expected from the particular features of its propagation it is sufficiently uniform in its essential characteristics.
  
  
  
  • Stable, if its essential characteristics remain unchanged after repeated propagation or, in the case of a particular cycle of propagation, at the end of each such cycle.
    
    



• A new variety shall not be registered under this Act if the denomination given to such variety:-
  
  
  • Is not capable of identifying such variety; or
  
  
  
  • Consists solely of figures; or
  
  
  
  • Is liable to mislead or to cause confusion concerning the characteristics, value identity to such variety of the identity of breeder of such variety; or
  
  
  
  • Is not different from every denomination which designates a variety of the same botanical species or of a closely related species registered under this Act; or
  
  
  
  • Is likely to deceive the public or cause confusion in the public regarding the identity of such variety; or
  
  
  
  • Is likely to hurt the religious sentiments respectively of any class or section of the citizens of India; or
  
  
  
  • Is prohibited for use as a name or emblem for any of the purposes mentioned in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950; or
  
  
  
  • Is comprised of solely or partly of geographical name.
    
    



• Every applicant shall assign a single and distinct denomination to a variety with respect to which he is seeking registration under this Act in accordance with the regulations. The Authority shall, having regard to the provisions of any international convention to treaty to which Indian has become a party, make regulations governing the assignment of denomination to a variety.



• Every application for registration shall:-
  
  
  • Be with respect to a variety;
  
  
  
  • State the denomination assigned to such variety by the applicant;
  
  
  
  • Be accompanied by an affidavit sworn by the applicant that such variety does not contain any gene or gene sequence involving terminator technology;
  
  
  
  • Be in such form as may be specified by regulations;
  
  
  
  • Contain a complete passport data of the parental lines from which the variety has been derived along with the geographical location in India from where the genetic material has been taken and all such information relating to the contribution, if any, of any farmer, village community, institution or organization in breeding, evolving or developing the variety;
  
  
  
  • Be accompanied by a statement containing a brief description of the variety bringing out its characteristics of novelty, distinctiveness, uniformity and stability as required for registration;
  
  
  
  • Be accompanied by such fees as may be prescribed;
  
  
  
  • Contain a declaration that the genetic material or parental material acquired for breeding, evolving or developing the variety has been lawfully acquired; and
  
  
  
  • Be accompanied by such other particulars as may be prescribed.
    
    



• Every applicant shall, along with the application for registration made under this Act, make available to the Registrar such quantity of seed of a variety for registration of which such application is made, for the purpose of conducting tests to evaluate whether seeds of such variety along with parental material conform to the standards as may be specified by regulations. The applicant shall deposit such fees as may be prescribed for conducting tests so referred.



• Any person may, within three months from the date of the advertisement of an application for registration on payment of the prescribed fees, give notice in writing in the prescribed manner, to the Registrar of his opposition to the registration. The opposition may be made on any of the following grounds:-
  
  
  • That the person opposing the application is entitled to the breeder’s right as against the applicant; or
  
  
  
  • That the variety is not registerable under this Act; or
  
  
  
  • That the grant of certificate of registration may not be in public interest; or
  
  
  
  • That the variety may have adverse effect on the environment.
    
    



• The Registrar shall serve a copy of the notice of opposition on the applicant for registration and, within two months from the receipt by the applicant of such copy of the notice of opposition, the applicant shall send to the Registrar in the prescribed manner a counter-statement of the grounds on which he relies for his application, and if he does not do so, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application.



• The certificate of registration issued under the Act shall be valid for nine years in the case of trees and vines and six years in the case of other crops and may be reviewed and renewed for the remaining period on payment of such fees as may be fixed by the rules made in this behalf subject to the condition that the total period of validity shall not exceed:-
  
  
  • In the case of trees and vines, eighteen years from the date of registration of the variety;
  
  
  
  • In the case of extant variety, fifteen years from the date of the notification of that variety by the Central Government under the Seeds Act, 1966; and
  
  
  
  • In other cases, fifteen years from the date of registration of the variety.
    
    



• No registration of a variety shall be made under this Act in cases where prevention of commercial exploitation of such variety is necessary to protect public order or public morality or human, animal and plant life and health or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment.



• Under the Act, the farmers’ rights are:-
  
  
  • A farmer who has bred or developed a new variety shall be entitled for registration and other protection in like manner as a breeder of a variety;
  
  
  
  • The farmers’ variety shall be entitled for registration;
  
  
  
  • A farmer who is engaged in the conservation of genetic resources of land races and wild relatives of economic plants and their improvement through selection and preservation shall be entitled in the prescribed manner for recognition and reward from the Gene Fund.
  
  
  
  • A farmer shall be deemed to be entitled to save, use, sow, resow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under this Act in the same manner as he was entitled before the coming into force of this Act.
    
    



• At any time, after the expiry of three years from the date of issue of a certificate of registration of a variety, any person interested may make an application to the Authority alleging that the reasonable requirements of the public for seed or other propagating material of the variety have not been satisfied or that the seed or other propagating material of the variety is not available to the public at a reasonable price and pray for the grant of a compulsory licence to undertake production, distribution and sale of the seed or other propagating material of that variety. The duration of the compulsory licences may vary from case to case keeping in view the gestation periods and other relevant factors but in any case it shall not exceed the total remaining period of the protection of that variety.



• A right established under this Act is infringed by a person:-
  
  
  • Who, not being the breeder of a variety registered under this Act or a registered agent or a registered licensee of that variety, sells, exports, imports or produces such variety without the permission of its breeder or within the scope of a registered licence or registered agency without permission of the registered licensee or registered agent, as the case may be;
  
  
  
  • Who uses, sells, exports, imports or produces any other variety giving such variety, the denomination identical with or deceptively similar to the denomination of a variety registered under this Act in such manner as to cause confusion in the mind of general people in identifying such variety so registered.
    
    



• Any person who applies any false denomination to a variety or indicates the false name of a country or place or false name and address of the breeder of a variety registered under this Act in the course of trading such variety, shall be punishable with imprisonment or with fine or with both.
  

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