A farmer, sprays pesticides in a paddy field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
Credit: Reuters photo
New Delhi: The Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday released the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, seeking public comments on the legislation that which intends to replace the current Insecticides Act, 1968 with enhanced penalties for violations.
The ministry has invited feedback from all stakeholders by February 4, 2026, to refine the legislation before it is introduced in Parliament, according to a statement.
The basic thrust of the latest draft is to use technology and digital methods for stricter control over spurious pesticides through higher penalties.
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.
"Provisions have also been made for compounding of offences, with enhanced penalties to act as a deterrent, to be defined by State-level authorities. Further, amendments have been introduced to strengthen administrative control and management of pesticides, striking a balance between ease of life and ease of doing business.
This bill also provides for mandatory accreditation of testing laboratories, ensuring that only quality pesticides is available to farmers," the statement said.
It may be recalled that since 2000-01 there have been multiple attempts to amend the decades-old Insecticides Act of 1968 and the rules made under it, but none could meet with success.