The Centre on Wednesday invited suggestions from stakeholders and the general public on the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, aimed at ensuring the supply of quality pesticides to farmers while decriminalising minor offences to promote ease of living and ease of doing business.
According to an official statement issued by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the fresh draft Bill has been prepared in alignment with present-day requirements and is intended to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968 and the Insecticides Rules, 1971.
The proposed Pesticides Management Bill, 2025 is described as a farmer-centric legislation with several reform-oriented provisions. It seeks to introduce greater transparency and traceability in the pesticides supply chain to improve services for farmers, while also promoting the use of technology and digital platforms to streamline regulatory processes.
The draft Bill proposes stricter control over spurious pesticides by prescribing higher penalties, along with provisions for compounding of offences. Enhanced penalties, to be defined by state-level authorities, have been included as a deterrent against violations.
Amendments have also been introduced to strengthen administrative control and overall management of pesticides, while maintaining a balance between regulatory compliance and ease of doing business. The Bill further provides for mandatory accreditation of pesticide testing laboratories to ensure that only quality products reach farmers.
The government has fixed February 4, 2026, as the last date for submission of comments and suggestions on the draft legislation. All inputs received within the stipulated timeframe and in the prescribed format will be considered while finalising the Bill, the statement said.
As part of the pre-legislative consultation process, the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025 and the prescribed format for submitting suggestions have been made available on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Comments and suggestions may be submitted by stakeholders and members of the public via email in MS Word or PDF format before the February 4 deadline, the statement added.
-IANS
