The Government of India has invited comments and suggestions from stakeholders and the general public on the Draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, a proposed legislation aimed at ensuring the availability of quality pesticides to farmers while promoting ease of living and ease of doing business by decriminalising minor offences.
According to an official statement issued by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the revised draft Bill has been formulated in line with current agricultural and regulatory requirements. Once enacted, it will replace the Insecticides Act, 1968 and the Insecticides Rules, 1971, providing a modern legal framework for the management of pesticides in the country.
The proposed Bill has been described as farmer-centric, with a strong emphasis on transparency, traceability, and accountability across the pesticide supply chain. It seeks to improve service delivery to farmers by encouraging the use of technology-driven and digital regulatory systems, thereby streamlining approvals, monitoring, and compliance processes.
One of the key features of the draft legislation is its focus on curbing the menace of spurious and substandard pesticides. The Bill proposes stricter penalties for violations, along with provisions for the compounding of offences. Enhanced penalties, to be determined by state-level authorities, have been included as a deterrent against non-compliance.
The draft also introduces amendments to strengthen administrative oversight and improve overall pesticide management, while maintaining a balance between regulatory control and business facilitation. In addition, the Bill mandates accreditation of pesticide testing laboratories, ensuring that only quality-tested and compliant products reach farmers.
The government has set February 4, 2026, as the deadline for submitting comments and suggestions on the draft Bill. All feedback received within the stipulated timeframe and in the prescribed format will be examined before finalising the legislation.
As part of the pre-legislative consultation process, the Draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025, along with the prescribed format for submitting suggestions, has been made available on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Stakeholders and members of the public can submit their inputs via email in MS Word or PDF format before the closing date.
The consultation process is expected to play an important role in shaping a balanced, forward-looking pesticide regulatory framework that safeguards farmer interests while supporting innovation and responsible growth in the agri-input sector.
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