WTO-TRIPS and Indian Agriculture: Legal Implications for Farmers’ Rights, Seed Sovereignty, and Hybrid Plant Protection

Abstract

The globalization of intellectual property rights through WTO-TRIPS has profoundly impacted national legal systems. This paper rigorously analyses the influence of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on India's patent legislation, emphasizing the control of hybrid plants and its consequences for farmers' rights and seed sovereignty. This study conducts a doctrinal and content-based legal examination of the junction between international intellectual property duties and domestic agriculture legislation, focusing on the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPV&FRA), 2001. This paper examines historic legal cases, including Monsanto v. Nuziveedu, PepsiCo v. Farmers, and the Bt Brinjal moratorium, to reveal how the commercialization of hybrid seeds and biotechnology patents generate legal difficulties and socio-economic challenges for smallholder farmers. India's unique legal structure provides some safeguards for traditional agricultural techniques; nonetheless, the data indicate that implementation is uneven and court interpretations fluctuate, therefore eroding farmers' seed rights. The document emphasizes the critical need for legislative clarity, institutional fortification, and policy changes to guarantee that India's adherence to TRIPS does not compromise agricultural sustainability, biodiversity, and rural livelihoods.