LAHORE, Sept 15: The federal agriculture and food ministry has reportedly prepared a draft law on the plant breeders’ rights, which will bar farmers from using their home-made seed for various crops.

The draft law, which has been prepared without consulting any of the stakeholders, will practically give the agriculture sector under the control of five multinationals involved in the seed business by introducing genetic seed.

After the law will be enforced, the farmers will have to purchase seed every year from a company having patent rights, besides entering into a technology-use-agreement (TUA) with the firm.

Under this agreement, the farmers will have to pay per acre licence fee for cultivating the seed, and will be disallowed to pass on the seed to other farmers.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party is planning to make a farmers’ organization over the issue.

According to party’s Secretary-General Farooq Tariq, they will hold a farmers’ conference at Chishtian, Sahiwal, on Sept 21 and 22 to protest the government’s policy of introducing genetic seed and corporate farming, which would leave thousands of farmers at the mercy of the multinationals.

He said the participants would also vent their anger against Prime Minister Jamali’s statement that the country did not need further agriculture reforms at the conference, which would be the biggest political assembly of farmers in the recent history.

Various farmer associations from the Punjab, Sindh and the NWFP would attend the moot to discuss launching of the farmers’ organization, he added.