The laws to secure intellectual property rights on plant germplasm have been strongly developed in parallel to the ongoing seed market consolidation. Germplasm as a commons, i.e., a natural resource accessible to all members of a society, receives almost no legal protection. On the other hand, the use of germplasm and released cultivars in breeding is increasingly restricted by intellectual property rights. In this study, approaches to open source plant germplasm are discussed, and the Open Source Seed (OSS) Licence is introduced and analysed. The OSS Licence was developed by an interdisciplinary working group of plant breeders, agricultural scientists, lawyers, and commons experts in Europe. The aim is to protect germplasm as a commons, support the free exchange of germplasm, stimulate plant breeding, reduce costs, and accelerate innovation. The OSS Licence is a legal tool and novel approach that extends its reach on derivatives of licenced germplasm. It is compatible with current seed laws. Effects on the access to plant germplasm, on breeding for diverse pedoclimatic environments, socioeconomic systems, and on biodiversity as a whole can first show after a few breeding cycles. The impact of open source germplasm on these aspects needs to be monitored carefully.

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Organic seed is vital for organic agriculture. However, organic plant breeding is not keeping pace with the increasing organic production, mainly because of a lack of sufficient financial resources. Therefore, the questions arose: what are the obstacles, and how can they be removed? An analysis of the situation in Europe revealed that royalties from intellectual property rights (IPRs) such as plant variety protection are inappropriate for organic seed. New additional financing strategies were developed based on the concept of seed as a commons, and the attitude of stakeholders in the food value chain towards an open source strategy was assessed. The conclusion is that dealing with seed as a commons is an indispensable feature of organic plant breeding. New financing strategies for this offer promising potential for organic plant breeding and an alternative to IPRs-based funding. It is essential to involve stakeholders along the entire value chain, including food consumers, in financing plant breeding. The successful introduction of a food label “open source and organic” could boost commons-based organic plant breeding financing. Generally, there is no single solution; the different strategies identified are complementary. Their validation requires further practical research and development.

Worldwide an increasing share of agricultural land is being sown with transgenic seeds. Advocates of genetic engineering tout the potential of this technology to fight hunger, produce healthier food, secure higher yields, supply more biofuel and reduce pesticide use. Up to now, most of these promises have not been fulfilled. Instead, genetic engineering technology has accelerated the industrialization of agriculture – with some alarming consequences for agricultural biodiversity.