"Seed and genetics are not one of the same"

CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM, April 20, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Seed provides the transfer of innovation

This was the message conveyed by Chris Green CEO of Green Resources when speaking at a recent innovation workshop at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany in Cambridge England.
In his address “Intellectual Property, expectations and challenges”, Chris declared there was a mind-set believing that seed and genetics are deemed to be one of the same and this,he suggested could give rise to a commoditisation of seed. “In a European context we appear to have lost our ability to adequately place the value of genetics when selling seed of broad acre crops” he declared. “The main reason a grower may opt for using farm saved seed is that the variety has proven its performance and profit capability on the farm; this is down to the genetics inherent in the variety not seed ” he added.
Patents and plant variety rights provide excellent legal mechanisms for breeders to be rewarded through royalty and licence payments but Chris called for more dynamic and creative thinking on how plant breeders are to be rewarded in the future for their sustained and long term commitment to deliver genetic improvements. Part of the problem may be that the royalty is often included in the cost of seed with no transparency on its cost. To this he said “How can we expect growers to understand or appreciate genetic value when they don’t know the cost” “I would like to see greater transparency with an open declaration on royalty at the point of sale. In many ways royalty, which represents the genetic value, should be seen as an input cost in the same way as agrochemicals or fertilizer” he added.
Accepting that the legal mechanisms of patents and plant varieties had served the industry well for over half a century, he cited that emerging ethical and moral issues, consolidation and the acceleration of technologies was bringing pressure to consider new approaches and business models to sustain inward investment. In his closing remarks Chris stated “It will be innovation that will be at the forefront of providing solutions to our global problems and in this respect regulatory drag was often impeding adoption of new technology.” “I am not calling for a revolution but an evolution of legislative and regulatory frameworks to enable these solutions to be found and adopted” he concluded.
Copies of the presentation are available by request chris@greenresources.co.uk or www.greenresources.co.uk

Christopher Green
Green Resources Ltd
00 44 1371810948
email us here

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