Abstract: Agriculture remains the backbone of India’s rural economy and food security system. Indian farmers have historically preserved, improved, exchanged and cultivated seeds and plant varieties through traditional knowledge and community-based practices. However, the growth of commercial agriculture, intellectual property protection over plant varieties, market concentration in the seed sector, climate vulnerability, and agrarian distress have raised important legal questions concerning the protection of farmers’ rights. India responded to these concerns by adopting a sui generis legal framework through the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 (PPV&FR Act). Unlike conventional plant variety protection laws, the Indian framework attempts to balance breeders’ rights with farmers’ rights by recognising the contribution of cultivators in conserving and developing plant genetic resources. This paper examines the concept, evolution and legal protection of farmers’ rights in India with special reference to the PPV&FR Act, 2001 and its relationship with constitutional guarantees, international obligations, biodiversity law and seed governance. The paper argues that while India has adopted one of the most farmer-sensitive statutory models in the world, implementation gaps, lack of awareness, procedural barriers, weak benefit-sharing mechanisms, and the growing pressure of commercialization continue to undermine the effective realization of farmers’ rights. The paper concludes with suggestions for strengthening legal protection through institutional reforms, better registration support for farmers’ varieties, stronger compensation and benefit-sharing systems, legal literacy, and improved coordination between agricultural, biodiversity and intellectual property regimes.

Keywords: Farmers’ rights, PPV&FR Act, plant variety protection, seed sovereignty, benefit sharing, agricultural law, biodiversity, India.