Processed seeds are not automatically agricultural produce; express Schedule coverage is needed for market fee and licensing liability.

Chemically treated and processed foodgrains sold as seeds were treated as a distinct commercial commodity, not as agricultural produce within the Rajasthan Agricultural Produce Markets Act Schedule merely because the original grain was listed. Although the statutory definition of agricultural produce was wide and inclusive, the Schedule required express or clear coverage of processed forms, and the fact that certain processed products were separately named showed that inclusion was not automatic. The notification excluding certified and foundation seeds did not imply that all other treated seeds were covered. On that basis, licence and market fee liability for such processed seeds was not sustainable.

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Issues: Whether chemically treated and processed foodgrains sold as seeds of Bajra and similar produce fall within "agricultural produce" under the Rajasthan Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961 and its Schedule so as to require a licence and attract market fee, and whether the notification excluding certified seeds implied inclusion of such processed seeds.

Analysis: The expression "agricultural produce" in Section 2(1)(i) is of wide and inclusive import, but the Schedule does not automatically carry every processed form of a listed commodity. The Schedule itself shows that when processed products or distinct forms were intended to be covered, they were separately and specifically named. Foodgrains used as seeds may retain dual character when used in their natural form, but once coated and treated with insecticides and chemicals for seed use, they lose their basic character as foodgrains for human or animal consumption and become a commercially distinct commodity. The notification of 16 May 1980, which only excluded certified seeds and foundation seeds of specified colours, did not justify an inference that all other seeds of foodgrains were included in the Schedule.

Conclusion: Processed and chemically treated seeds of foodgrains were held not to fall within the Schedule as agricultural produce in the manner contended by the appellants, and the requirement of a licence and recovery of market fee from the respondents was not sustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute uses an inclusive definition but the Schedule specifically enumerates commodities, a processed product becomes covered only if it is expressly or clearly brought within the Schedule; a processed commodity with a distinct commercial identity is not to be treated as included merely because the original produce is listed.

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