Publication

Abstract : Agriculture plays an important role in the Indian Economy with India's population largely dependent on agriculture. Mandated by TRIPS for providing protection for plant varieties, India has constructed a sui generis system for protection of plant variety, 'The Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001 (PPV&FR Act)'. This act draws from UPOV 1978 as well as UPOV 1991, and incorporates some unique provisions keeping in view the challenges and constraints of the Indian agriculture ecosystem. As per the PPV&FR act, a registration system has been created for registering plant varieties under various categories. The primary objective of the paper is to examine what has been the impact of the PPV&FR Act. The paper addresses this objective by critically examining the registrations under this act. Does this act provide an incentive mechanism for different stakeholders to register their plant varieties? What does the registration indicate: in terms of types of crops being registered, the trend of registration under different categories, the stakeholder's involvement, and whether it is contributing towards stimulating innovation across the crop development ecosystem. These are some of the issues that the paper examines to assess the impact of India's PPV&FR Act.