Plant Variety Rights in India: Progress, Sectoral Participation, and Certification Dynamics

Abstract

Plant Variety Rights (PVRs) stimulate agricultural innovation by incentivizing breeders with exclusive rights over their varieties. In India, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 provides dual benefits: encouraging breeders to develop new plant varieties and motivating farmers to conserve agro-biodiversity by protecting landraces. This study examines the Indian system of plant variety protection in terms of varietal registration progress, participation of public and private sectors as well as farming communities, portfolio diversity of public as well as private grantees, and their certification lags. Findings revealed that between 2009-10 and 2024-25, registrations grew from 170 to 1719 certificates with maximum rights in farmer varieties (54.6 %), followed by extant (30.4 %) and new varieties (14.8 %). Most rights were secured for cereals (64.2 %), fibres (9 %), and pulses & vegetables (7.5 % each), with highest registrations in rice, cotton, and maize. Private companies focused on commercial crops (tetraploid cotton, vegetables, and sunflower), whereas public institutions covered a broader spectrum of rights in crops. Registration diversified in crop species over time, especially among private companies and farmers. Typical varieties secured the highest protection (58.5%), followed by hybrids, parental inbred lines, and transgenic crops. Average certificate grant time increased from 1.6 years (2009) to 7.5 years (2023), with public institutions experiencing shorter lags (2.6 years) than private companies (6.5 years) in registration.