A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PROVISIONS CONFERRING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TO FARMERS IN REFERENCE TO PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETIES AND FARMERS’ RIGHTS ACT, 2001

Abstract

India is considered as one of the richest mega diversity country in the world. It is reported that approximately twenty thousand species of higher plants alone occur in India and twelve thousand species of plants are well-known for their medicinal properties.1 The credit to maintain such rich plant biodiversity goes to farmers. They are the reservoir of traditional agriculture knowledge, skill and know-how. They transferred their traditional knowledge to their next generations without any expectation in an informal manner It is a fact that “farmers’ Rights” emerged in Indian legal system to contravene the intellectual property rights of breeders otherwise farmers never claim any intellectual property right. These rights are acclaimed by farmers to secure their control over traditional plant varieties and the plant genetic resources as they are under the fear that in the absence of farmers’ rights over traditional plant variety, breeders may exploit farmers’ treasure available in the form traditional plant variety, landraces and wild-relatives without any hitch by merely doing some minor changes with the help of biotechnology and claim intellectual property rights on the same. To overcome farmers’, fear the legislature has placed farmers’ rights under the same legal enactment under which it grants intellectual property rights to breeders. The object of this paper is to give an account of farmers’ rights placed in the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ rights Act, 2001 and to probe whether the aspiration of farmers for intellectual property rights have been fulfilled or not? If not, then what are the reasons for ineffective implementation of Farmers’ rights?