Who Owns Farm Data? Towards a Sui Generis Framework for Agricultural Data Governance in India’s Digital Agriculture Ecosystem

With the rising use of AI, IoT technology, drones, satellite mapping, and precision farming tools, farm data in India has emerged as a vital economic asset in the field of digital agriculture. Data generated from farms regarding soil composition, productivity, weather conditions, irrigation techniques, and farmer behaviour is increasingly being collected and monetised by Agritech companies. Despite its growing economic importance, Indian law does not provide a clear framework governing the ownership, control, and commercial exploitation of agricultural data. In this Article, the regulatory possibilities for farm data have been analysed in the light of prevailing intellectual property laws and other related laws in India and the conflicting claims regarding the ownership of farm data raised by farmers, agricultural technology companies, and platforms have been assessed. A doctrinal and comparative analysis approach has been adopted to assess the application of copyright laws, patent laws, protection of trade secrets, and data protection laws on farm data. According to this article, there are unique properties that set apart agricultural data from other types of intellectual property, such as non-rivalrousness, constant production, and reliance on technology in creating value. These properties render the current legal provisions inappropriate in addressing ownership and control issues. Consequently, there is a regulatory void characterised by a lack of clarity, exacerbation of information disparities, and exploitation of farm-generated data. To fill the regulatory vacuum and provide effective management of farm data, the article recommends the creation of a sui generis farm data governance system that identifies farmers as data creators, imposes data fiduciary duties on agritech firms, and follows transparency, informed consent, and benefit-sharing principles. This type of system is crucial for ensuring that the digital agriculture revolution is not only innovative but socially just as well.