Draft pesticides Bill includes tech, digital and other reform-oriented provisions

Agriculture Ministry said the revised Bill incorporates farmer-centric provisions including transparency and traceability for better services to farmer and thus promoting ease of living
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PTI

The Centre on Wednesday released the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, which intends to replace the current Insecticides Act, 1968. The government has sought feedback from the stakeholders by February 4 so that it can be finalised and introduced in the ensuing Budget session of Parliament.

In November last year, the Government released the draft Seeds Bill, but it could not be introduced in the winter session of Parliament as announced. The Seeds Bill, too, is likely to be introduced in the Budget session. Critics said that the Bill, though better than the previous draft, still needs a few more provisions

“Under section 39 (f) related to Powers of Pesticide Inspector, the draft Bill refers to an Executive Magistrate appointed by state government ‘under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973’, even though the CrPC has already been replaced by Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Similarly section 50 mentions Indian Penal Code, which is too replaced by BNS,” an expert said alleging the same draft of 2020 has been retained.

2020 bill kept in abeyance

The draft Bill intends to “regulate pesticides, including their manufacture, import, packaging, labelling, storage, advertisement, sale, transport, distribution, use and disposal in order to ensure availability of safe and effective pesticides, and to strive to minimise risk to human beings, animals, living organisms other than pests, and the environment with an endeavour to promote pesticides that are biological and based on traditional knowledge and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

In 2020 also, the government had released a draft of the Pesticides Management Bill (PMB), but it was kept in abeyance. Industry sources said there is no change in the current revised draft Bill.

Terming the draft Pesticides Management Bill as farmer centric legislation, the Agriculture Ministry said that the revised Bill incorporates farmer-centric provisions including transparency and traceability for better services to farmer and thus promoting ease of living.

There are several reform oriented provisions including use of technology/digital methods for streamlining of processes and control over spurious pesticides with higher penalties for deterrence. Provisions for compounding for offences have also been made with higher penalties for deterrence.

Modernisation attempt

The Ministry said that amendments have been made for better administrative control and management of pesticides thereby striking a balance between ease of life and ease of doing business.

Provision for mandatory accreditation of testing laboratories will ensure only quality-assured pesticides reach farmers, the Ministry said. The draft Bill also encourages use of biopesticides and promotes indigenous manufacturing, it said.

Commenting on the Bill, Kalyan Goswami, Director General of Agro Chem Federation of India, said that it represents a significant attempt to modernise India’s pesticide regulatory framework. In the past, registrations were granted to entities hardly having any required infrastructure to manufacture pesticides.

Silent on accreditation

“PMB should seriously recomend for granting registration to bonafide applicants with the required and verified manufacturing facilities to ensure regulatory integrity. This will ensure that pesticides are produced without compromising quality, safety, or efficacy,” he said in a statement.

To improve the standards of laboratories which conduct tests that are relied on for assessing the quality of pesticides, all the laboratories established, notified, or recognised must be accredited either by NABL or GLP-certified. But, the Bill is somehow silent on this matter, he said.

ACFI urges the government to introduce and implement Regulatory Data Protection (RDP) to encourage industry to invest in new molecules which are off patent, Goswami said.

Published on January 7, 2026