In which of the following year the seed act was passed firstly by the Indian Parliament?

🔑 Key Points
The Seed Act 1966 was passed by the Indian Parliament on 29th December 1966 and came into force on 2nd October 1969.
In addition, the Seed Regulation Order was passed in December 1983.
The sole objective of this Act and Order is to ensure that Indian farmers get good quality seeds of important crops.

Important Provisions and Guidelines
→ The Act applies to seeds notified by the Central Government from time to time.
→ Seed quality is regulated at two stages: Seed production and seed certification.
→ For this purpose, seed testing laboratories and seed certification agencies are to be established in each state. Maharashtra has already fulfilled this requirement.

📝 Additional Information
Sale of Seeds:
→ Any institution, agency, company, or individual wishing to do business in seeds must obtain necessary permission for buying and selling seeds.
→ Without permission, such business cannot be carried out.
→ A licence holder must keep all seeds notified by the Central Govt. for sale.
→ The seeds to be sold to farmers must satisfy the minimum qualifications, and standards of physical purity and germination percentage are fixed under the Seed Act.

Seed Bag/Packet Labels:
The bags or packets containing seeds for sale must have specifications fixed for that particular seed. These labels are of different colours for different seeds to help farmers:
→ Breeder's seed: Yellow colour
→ Foundation seed: White colour
→ Certified seed: Blue colour

Label Information:
→ Seed name and variety
→ Lot number
→ Physical purity (in percentage) and germination (in percentage)
→ Date of testing
→ Weight of the seed in the bag/packet
→ Seed class/category
→ Expiry date/viability period
→ Name and address of seed producer
→ Signature of the officer of the seed certification agency