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Work has begun to digitalise the “distribution value chain” which is likely to be completed before kharif 2026.
| Photo Credit:
K K Mustafah
As many as 24 States are on board in the Indian government’s SATHI portal, as part of the digitalisation process of the seed production chain. The chain starts from the breeder to the foundation and from the foundation to certified seeds under the supervision of State Seed Certification Agencies (SSCAs). Work has begun to digitalise the “distribution value chain” which is likely to be completed before kharif 2026.
“With one part is nearly complete, the next focus is to capture the distribution network, so that any farmer by scanning the QR code on the seed packet will be able to know the details about the seeds which he intends to purchase or already bought,” said Ajeet Kumar Sahu, a joint secretary in Union Agriculture Ministry.
Other set to join
About the aim of digitalising the entire Seed Retail Chain – from Seed Producing Agency/ farmer, distributors, dealers, retailers until it reaches the farmer, Maharashtra was the first state to complete it by capturing all the required information online from kharif 2024 season, other States like Assam, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand also joined in last rabi season.
Hopefully, Bihar, Haryana, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will join during ensuing Kharif season while the Centre is hopeful of bringing all the states before kharif 2026.
The SSCAs of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jammu, Kashmir and Uttarakhand had joined the SATHI (Seed Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory) portal before Kharif 2024 while in last Kharif, Bihar, Haryana, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh too joined. During Rabi 2024-25 season, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Puducherry, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Tamil Nadu also joined. While Telangana is yet to join, Gujarat has started the process.
Consultations on
Any seed packet, when certified by an SSCA, will show the details of the production system including where it was grown and by whom, officials said. However, it will take time as there is a time lag of 3 years before a seed variety reaches at farmers end after it is approved by the government.
“From nucleus seed, which is developed by scientists, to breeder seed and then to foundation seeds and then certified seeds, which are sold or distributed to farmers for commercial cultivation, it normally takes three years. So, the production system, which is getting captured on the SATHI portal, will be reflected through the QR code when farmers get the seeds. It is an ongoing process and all those seeds sold in the market, irrespective of when those varieties were released, will be on the portal,” said Sahu.
Though information sharing is currently optional, the government has plans to make it mandatory for all stakeholders to fill in the data on the SATHI portal once the Seeds Act is amended, for which the consultation process has started. At the kharif 2025 conference last week, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced that the Centre would be making amendments in the Seeds Act, 1966, to curb sales of spurious seeds and protect farmers’ interest. Seeking feedback from the States, he informed them about a draft bill being prepared now by the Centre.
Published on May 12, 2025
This article first appeared on The Hindu Business Line
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