Research analyst Aarti Misal of the World Benchmarking Alliance represented the Access to Seeds Index at the Indian Seed Congress 2020 (New Delhi, 16-17 Febuary 2020). Wrapping up two days of productive she posted on LinkedIn:
The congress brought together seed companies, scientists and government officials. It was discussed that while the Indian seed industry is growing at a rapid annual growth rate of 13%, policy paralysis in the country continues to be a cause of concern. There was large emphasis on increasing traceability of products which would reduce infringement of intellectual property rights of seed companies.
Provisions, concerns, and challenges of the upcoming Seed Bill were also discussed. S K Pattanayak, in the concluding panel discussion on ‘Envisioning Indian seed industry in the next decade’ stressed that ‘India has not yet tapped the true potential of good quality seeds’ and urged NSAI ‘sensitize the policymakers of the country to ensure good quality seeds become the window for Indian agriculture.’
