Saving Seeds or Saving Face? Seed Acquisition Mechanisms among Farmers in Jharkhand, India and sui generis Protection

Much of the debates surrounding private ownership of seed for agricultural purposes of late have focused on the need to protect the right of farmers to save, reuse, sell, and exchange seed, broadly termed as farmers’ rights. However, recent changes in seed acquisition among some farmers have provided catalysts to question whether or not the debate on farmers ’ rights is still as relevant as previously imagined, at least to the extent that it is considered to be in the current literature. This is further based on the wide breadth of literature that claims that the majority of seed available for use by farmers are sourced primarily from farmers ’ own stocks; that is, saved seed. This paper argues that, based on recent trends among farmers in the state of Jharkhand, India, the amount of farmers that exclusively save seed for their livelihoods has been greatly exaggerated in the current literature. The paper further argues that the India’s sui generis plant variety protection legislation, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers ’ Rights Act (2001), while unique in its ’ balance of both farmers ’ and breeders ’ rights, is ineffective in protecting those farmers that do choose to save seed, especially those who choose to save seed that is “branded”