HYDERABAD: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Thursday said that the proposed Seeds Bill of the Union government places the interests of corporate companies above those of farmers, and therefore it must be stopped immediately. “Any new Seeds Bill must prioritise farmers’ interests and their welfare,” he said.
“The proposed Bill would remove the role of state governments in the matter of seeds and hence everyone must oppose it,” he added.
The former minister suggested that the Centre move forward on this Bill only after detailed discussions with farmers’ organisations, seed experts, agricultural experts and political parties.
Rama Rao said that BRS had already submitted a detailed feedback on the draft Seeds Bill proposed by the Centre.
He pointed out that the Bill lacks clarity on the measures to curb spurious seeds and that there was no guarantee of timely compensation for farmers who suffer losses because of fake seeds. He said that the Bill fails to hold companies accountable for the production of spurious seeds.
The BRS leader also said that the Union government should bring forward a Seeds Bill with strict and transparent regulations that serve the interests of farmers and agricultural development, rather than the interests of companies.
He announced that the BRS would soon organise a round-table meeting, under the leadership of former agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy and MP Vinod Kumar, to come up with additional suggestions, which will be forwarded to the Centre.