Indian Seed System and Plant Variety Protection

This paper analyses the Indian seed system and raises questions about the need for developing countries - which are predominantly agricultural and where plant breeding is done by public agencies - to have plant variety protection (PVP). It also looks at the Plant Varieties Act in India, where a series of policy developments have opened up the domestic seed sector to large companies and foreign direct investment. The paper stresses the role of public sector investment in plant breeding that is not PVP-driven and acts as a counterbalance to expanding research activity by the private sector.