Laws protecting industrial seeds

Sri Lankan farmers are currently opposing a new law proposal called the ‘Seed and Planting Material Act’.

 The new draft law would require the mandatory registration of farmers and the certification of their seeds. In addition to requiring the state to maintain a list of seed producers and suppliers, the law authorises government officials to raid farms in search of ‘illegal’ seeds. If such ‘illegal’ seeds are found, farmers would have to pay a minimum fine of Rs. 50 000 (US$380) and could go to jail for up to six months.

The law benefits industrial seeds by rendering them the only legal ones, to the detriment of both farmers and state-run programmes producing essential crops such as rice.

With the law, this extends to protecting monopolies on other ‘planting material’ including green manure made by farmers— in favour of the companies who produce synthetic inputs.

For more infomration see publication produced by GRAIN and La Via Campesina