Financing Organic Plant Breeding—New Economic Models for Seed as a Commons

Abstract

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.

Retracted: Navigating the Implications, Principles and Objectives of Digital Sequencing Information in Agricultural Crops

“…This will result in the creation of a complicated environment for researchers and actors from the private sector to navigate, and it may also restrict the positive effects that DSI could potentially have [30]. In addition, an excessive number of distinct national laws may cause consumers to seek out DSI from nations that have the least restrictive arrangements, which may result in a "race to the bottom" and also prevent many individuals from participating in benefit sharing [76].…”

“…Trade secret protection is another important instrument. Under such regimes, it is possible that either one or both of the physical things (seeds) and informational entities (genomic sequences) might be privatized [76]. In principle, a single PGRFA might be privatized based on a variety of criteria and reasons, depending on whether its informational or physical components are being evaluated, as well as the regime that is being reviewed.…”

Navigating toward resilient and inclusive seed systems

“…Others, thinking outside the box of international biodiversity and IPR treaties and instruments, argue for “commoning” all forms of crop diversity management through collaborative network approaches to seed governance ( 140 – 142 ). Similarly, some breeders and organizations promote “Open Source Seed” pledges on new varieties as a means to maintain open access to germplasm ( 143 , 144 ).…”

Evidence of scientific research on organic plant breeding: A bibliometric study

“…Primarily, the main challenge is related to the financing of this sector, which, unlike conventional breeding, cannot rely on intellectual property rights such as PVP and patents. The most appropriate way to overcome this is to find a new strategy that would involve stakeholders within the entire value chain, as well as food consumers in financing organic plant breeding (Kotschi et al, 2022). Furthermore, the research activities should be supported with science funding programmes.…”

“…At the same time, attention is given to sustainability and an increase in agricultural biodiversity. Despite the fact that the organic sector recorded considerable growth within the past two to three decades, more than 95% of crop varieties are still derived from conventional plant breeding (Kotschi et al, 2022; Lammerts van Bueren et al, 2011).…”