Legal Awareness Program

The legal awareness program on the Rights of farmers- Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right, 2001 on the day of World Intellectual Property Rights Day, focused on educating students about rights available to farmers, protection of plant breeders' rights and to ensure farmers' rights to save, use, share, and sell farm-saved seeds. The program was conducted by, Mrs. Gowri Manogari, Mrs. Sruthy Murugan Usha and Mr. Aariya, Faculty of Law, IPR department, Saveetha School of Law, SIMATS and students in collaboration with the organic farm owners. The program started with an introduction to the legal protection available to organic farming and farmers and the rights of farmers as enshrined in the Indian Constitution and PPV&FR Act,2001. We discussed the legal assistance given to farmers to engage more in farming activities. The students were informed about the importance of protecting the contributions of traditional farmers and tribal communities to the development of plant varieties and provides for the recognition and protection of their rights. It also promotes the conservation of traditional varieties of plants and encourages their use in agriculture. The students were enlightened about the entire process of receiving license for organic farms from the beginning stage till end stage of receiving license. Their renewal process was also discussed in detail by the concerned person from "Akshayakalpa".