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PVP (plant variety protection & breeders' rights)
What it is
Protection of new plant varieties under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, which grants a breeder exclusive rights to produce and sell a registered variety for a fixed term
India's version is deliberately unlike UPOV 1991 - it preserves farmers' rights to save, use, exchange and sell seed of a protected variety, provided it is not sold under the registered brand name
Impact on industries
- Gives breeders a legal basis to earn from varietal investment, which is what makes private R&D viable in crops where hybrid biology does not enforce repeat purchase
- The farmers' rights carve-out limits enforceable value in self-pollinated crops like wheat and paddy, where saved seed legally substitutes purchase
- Enforcement is weak in practice - proving infringement across millions of small holdings is impractical, so protection is stronger on paper than in the market
- Hence commercial seed value concentrates in hybrids, where the F2 yield drop enforces annual repurchase biologically rather than legally