But, critics say the approach in forming should have been bottoms-up instead of top-down
The government's plan to develop a stack of technologies for agriculture will be based on old and inaccurate land records, excluding many who need to access agricultural services and welfare schemes
The Bill exempts farmers from registering the seeds they develop if they do not sell them
This will be part of the $26 million the company plans to use to expand its cotton business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and its rice and eggplant business in Asia
After clocking single-digit production growth in 2015, the Rs 20,000-crore Indian seed industry is pinning its hopes on good monsoon to achieve double-digit growth.The industry grew at 12 per cent in 2012 and 2013, before slowing down a bit. It now hopes to achieve 12 per cent growth again in 2016, thanks to Met forecast of above-normal monsoon.Te demand for cotton seeds is expected to decline a bit as farmers are likely to switch to other crops after bad experience with BT cotton last year. Paddy farmers have already started purchasing seeds and the industry expects demand for oil seeds and seeds for other kharif crops to go up by June-end."Since last two years, growth of seeds industry was limited to single-digit. But this year we expect the industry to be back on track. If everything goes well, the market could increase to over Rs 20,000 crore," said M G Shembekar, managing director, Ankur Seeds.According to Shembekar, weak economical situation, coupled with poor monsoon had resulte