Regional Councils of the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) face consistent challenges when farmers cannot source certified organic seeds. When local organic seeds are unavailable, Regional Councils must verify and approve the use of untreated conventional seeds. This article explains how to document and evaluate these requests on the official portal at pgsindia-ncof.gov.in.
This guide is written for Regional Council members processing applications under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF), and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER). It provides a clear protocol to prevent Zonal Council rejections.
Managing Organic Seed Compliance on the PGS Portal
Under the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) framework managed by the National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (NCOF), organic seed compliance is mandatory. However, the organic seed market in India remains highly fragmented. Farmers often use untreated conventional seeds when certified options are absent in their local markets.
To maintain organic seed compliance PGS portal standards, Local Groups must submit a derogation request. This process is known as PGS India seed derogation. If a Local Group fails to declare their seed source, Zonal Councils will stall or reject the peer appraisal during final review. Regional Councils must proactively guide Local Groups to upload clean documentation before submitting files forward.
The National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) managed by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) also demands strict seed traceability. While PGS uses its own portal, the verification principles for untreated seeds remain aligned. For both systems, verifying that the seed has not been treated with prohibited synthetic chemicals is the core objective.
The National Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (NCOF) requires a formal non-availability certificate or a local group self-declaration before any untreated conventional seed can be approved for organic cultivation.
Step-by-Step Guide for Regional Council Seed Approval
When a Local Group requests untreated seed permission PGS India, the Regional Council must evaluate the submission on the PGS India seed verification portal. Follow this manual process to complete the review:
- Log in to the official PGS-India portal using your Regional Council credentials.
- Navigate to the pending peer appraisal section for the target Local Group.
- Open the farmer profile and check the crop seed source field.
- Verify that the Local Group has attached the required supplier receipt showing the seed is chemical-free.
- Review the non-availability statement confirming that certified organic seeds were not accessible locally.
- Select the appropriate approval option in the portal to grant the derogation.
- Add a clear, factual comment confirming that the physical verification of the seed source is complete.
- Submit the verified record to the Zonal Council for final endorsement.
If the Local Group is currently inactive, the portal will display a notification indicating that operations are blocked for dormant groups. Ensure the group status is active before processing. For more details on setting up groups, you can refer to our guide on PGS India Local Group Registration: Setup and Farmer Entry.
Standardizing Documentation and Scale Arithmetic
Missing documentation is the primary reason Zonal Councils reject peer appraisals. Every Regional Council seed approval must contain three key verifications. First, a self-declaration from the farmer confirming the seed has not been treated with synthetic chemical pesticides or fungicides. Second, a non-availability certificate from local government nurseries or registered organic seed suppliers. Third, the purchase receipt or proof of collection for the conventional seed used.
Let us look at the operational effort required for this verification. Checking each seed certificate and receipt takes about five minutes per farmer. For a small 20-farmer Local Group, this takes around 1.6 hours. For an FPO or Cluster Based Business Organisation (CBBO) managing 500 farmers across ten villages, verifying every single entry manually takes over 41 hours of continuous work. This task repeats during every sowing season.
Regional Councils must establish a systematic review schedule to handle these volumes without delaying seasonal farm activities. Ensure that your Internal Control System (ICS) managers collect these documents during the initial peer appraisal meeting. This prevents backlogs when the sowing window opens.
Conclusion
Documenting untreated seed derogations correctly keeps PGS-India certifications accurate and transparent. By following this standard verification process, Regional Councils prevent administrative delays and help farmers secure market access without interruption.
KrushiFlow validates these fields and submits farmer records to the portal in bulk.