 "Centre to control Bt cotton seed prices by fixing MRP")
The Centre has decided to control prices of cotton seeds, including the genetically modified versions by fixing a uniform maximum retail price (MRP) from March, a move that would deal a major blow to global hybrid seed company Monsanto.
It has also decided to fix and regulate the seed value and licensee fee including royalty or trait value, according to a notification issued by the agriculture ministry.
Currently, Bt cotton seed is sold at different rates across the country. In Punjab and Haryana, it is priced at Rs 1,000 for a 450g packet, Rs 830 in Maharashtra and Rs 930 in six states including Andhra Pradesh.
In the notification dated December 7, the agriculture ministry said the Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order has been issued for “uniform regulation” of sale price of cotton seeds with existing and future genetically modified technologies. The aim is to ensure cotton seeds are available to farmers at “fair, reasonable and affordable prices” and there is uniform rates for cotton seeds across the country, it said.
The decision follows several representation by farmers and the National Seed Association of India for regulating sale price of Bt cotton and other varieties in the country.
According to the notification, MRP of the cotton seed will be notified in the Official Gazette on or before March 31 of every year applicable for the next financial year.
While the National Seed Association of India hailed the development but Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd (MMBL) a joint venture arm of Monsanto India, expressed disappointment.
“By further regulating price and license fees, the order will suppress innovation and deprive farmers of new technologies and a competitive market place for their inputs,” a MMBL spokesperson told PTI.
“Contrary to the government’s professed desire to enhance ease of doing business, the order also creates great unpredictability in the business environment by arbitrarily and unduly interfering with private contracts between technology providers and seed companies,” he said.
MMBL remains confident that the government will take into account views of all stakeholders and will continue to encourage innovation in Indian agriculture, he added.
Indian farmers are seeking increasingly better technologies and other inputs that helps them grow their income and improve their livelihoods, not more regulation of prices, said MMBL, which has sub-licensed the Bt technology to 49 domestic seed firms.
Bt cotton is the only GM crop allowed for commercial cultivation in the country. Over the last decade, Bt cotton technology has been adopted on over 95 per cent of the country's cotton growing area, making India the second largest producer and exporter of cotton.
In the notification, the Agriculture Ministry said whatever the MRP, the seed value and licence fee fixed by the Centre will be binding on all stakeholders including the licensor and the licensee, notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or instrument to the contrary.
"No licensor, licensee or dealer shall cause distribution and sale of seeds above the MRP fixed by the government under this order," it said, adding that any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Order or fails to carry out any direction will be punishable under the existing law.
Welcoming the development, National Seed Association of India (NSAI) President M Prabhakar Rao said, "This will benefit both farmers and seed industry. It is better if there is uniform rates across the country."
So far, state governments were regulating sale price of cotton seed and this was the first time, the Centre has decided to fix the uniform MRP, he added.
The notification comes at a time when there is a tussle between the MMBL and seed companies over payment of royalty for using Bollgard technology in hybrid cotton seeds.
MMBL has dragged eight seed firms for non-payment of about Rs 400 crore royalty for using its technology in cotton hybrids and for breach of the contract.
On the other hand, NSAI has sought refund of over Rs 1,300 crore paid as royalty to MMBL for using latter's technology in last five years arguing that the seed firms paid this amount over and above the state government stipulated trait value.
