Pesticides Bill
Govt releases draft Pesticides Management Bill for public feedback
This story was originally published at 15:19 IST on 8 January 2026
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NEW DELHI – The agriculture ministry has released the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, proposing reforms in India's pesticides regulatory framework to ensure the quality of agrochemical products and tighten control over spurious pesticides. The draft Bill aims to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968 as well as the Insecticides Rules, 1971, and the public can submit feedback on it by Feb. 4, the ministry said in a release Wednesday.
The draft Bill seeks to bring the enire pesticide value chain, including production, import, registration, licensing, sale, storage, use, disposal, and surveillance, under a single modern law. The ministry said the draft Bill aims to ensure the availability of safe and effective pesticides and minimise risk to human health, animals, other organisms, and the environment.
The draft Bill aims to strengthen regulatory oversight by empowering authorities to review, suspend, or cancel registrations if any evidence of safety, efficacy, or environmental risks. It also seeks to enable improved monitoring through a national digital register of pesticides, state-level databases, expanded powers for pesticides inspectors, including seizure, sampling, and temporary curbs on sales.
Under the proposed Bill, all pesticide registrations and licence applications will be processed only in digital mode, enabling end-to-end digital traceability of pesticides from manufacturers, dealers, retailers, and farmers. This is aimed at curbing the circulation of products manufactured by illegal entities.
The draft Bill proposes rationalisation of penalties and punishments based on the nature and seriousness of violations, with provisions for compounding minor offences, while retaining criminal liability for serious breaches. Both the draft Pesticides Management Bill and the draft Seeds Bill are expected to be tabled in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament after consultations with states, farmer groups, and industry, Farm Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi said in late November. End
Reported by Afra Abubacker
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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