Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority

About Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority:

• It is a statutory body established on 11 November, 2005 under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001.
• Nodal Ministry: It works under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.
• Headquarter: New Delhi
• Objectives of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority:
  • Grant intellectual property rights to plant breeders for their innovations in developing new plant varieties
  • Recognise and reward farmers and communities who conserve traditional varieties and biodiversity
  • Promote the protection of farmers’ rights to save, use, sow, resow, exchange, share, and sell farm-saved seed of registered varieties
  • Encourage research and innovation in plant breeding and agriculture
  • Maintain the National Register of Plant Varieties (NRPV) and ensure the documentation and conservation of valuable germplasm resources
• Structure of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority:
  • The Chairperson is the Chief Executive of the Authority.
  • Members: It has 15 members, as notified by the Government of India (GOI).
  • Eight of them are ex-officio members representing various Departments/ Ministries, 
  • Three from State Agriculture Universities and the State Governments.
  • One representative each for farmers, tribal organization, seed industry and women organizations associated with agricultural activities are nominated by the Central Government.
  • The Registrar General is the ex-officio Member Secretary of the Authority.
• Functions:
  • Registration of new plant varieties, essentially derived varieties (EDV), extant varieties;
  • Compulsory cataloging facilities for all variety of plants;
  • Preservation of plant genetic resources of economic plants and their wild relatives;
  • Maintenance of the National Register of Plant Varieties and National Gene Bank.