IPR, Seeds and Farmers’ Rights

EMERGING ISSUES

- Ditdit Pelegrina, SEARICE

IPR (intellectual property rights) on seedsExclusive proprietary rights on seeds

Argued as driving force for innovation and pre-condition for investments Japan-Philippines; US-Philippines - with conditions on patent and plant variety protection

US-Singapore: patent protection for transgenic plants and animals

US-Morroco: patent protection for plants and animals

US-Vietnam: plant variety protection

Comes in different forms - patents, plant variety protection, geographic indication

Source: ETC Group, 2008

Global Proprietary Seed Market2009: US$32B

US$18B increase from 2001 fgures

Attributed to increased use traits and stacked trait corn (GM corn) in South America

Vegetable seed industry: US$3.8B

Growing businessIn 2000

Dow (US) with 30% pending applications on gene sequences for corn

Ribosome (US) with 72% application for potatoes Dupont (US) with 41% application for wheat genes

2010: increasing trend towards patenting products of conventional breeding (not GMOs) Test case under EPO: brocolli (Bioscience) - patent application on seeds and breeding method

wrinkled tomato (Israel) - ‘essentially biological processes’

Review of some patent application on plants in the Philippines (as inventions) Rice transposone gene by Japan Science and Technology Agency

Process of transformation of rice using transposon gene + transformed rice (seeds and plants) + methods of use - Japan Science and Technology Agency

Seed production of hybrid rice - Peijin Huang by Hainan Province, China

Herbicide resistant rice - Timothy Croughan of USA

Method of breeding rice plants of new variety with resistance to herbicides - Hokko Chemical Industry, Japan

Impacts of IPR

Control over seeds and food and agriculture production

Form of enclosure for farmers and for consumers (we pay for these IPR) Limits research: need to pay for the license to use the genes or the seeds for research

Privatization of resource: genetic resource Limits access by poor farmers on materials unless it is paid for (other side: creates dependency)

Goes against Farmers’ Rights to save, use, sell and exchange seeds Cornerstone of rich agricultural biodiversity - the base for our food security

Traditional Seeds

HYVs Hybrid Seeds

GMOs GURTS(terminator)

Seed saving can be saved and re-planted

Can be saved and re-planted

Can be saved and re-planted but quality deterioratesEncourage use of fresh seeds every season

Coupled with hybrid technologyPreference for use of fresh seeds every season

No seed saving (sterile seeds)

Developer Farmers Public research institution

Public research institutionCorporations

CorporationsPublic research institution (testing)

Corporations

Farmers’ Access

Farmer to farmer

Extension agents/govt program

Seed industry/Corporations through research and extension system

Seed industry/corporationsthrough research and extension system

TRENDS: SEED TECHNOLOGY

Traditional Seeds

HYVs Hybrid Seeds

GMOs GURTS(terminator)

Breeding process

Natural selection

Off-type selection

compositesheterogenous

With hybridization + dwarfing gene

Different techniques

Homogenous population

Large scale hybridization

No further selection from F1

homogenous

Gene technology (genetic engineering)

homogenous

gene technology

Adaptation Site specific For wide adaptation in prime areas

For wide adaptation for prime areas but with site specific responses

Wide adaptation

wide adaptation

Role of women

Seed keeper Seed keeper ? ? ?

Farmers supply bulk of seeds

Supplies 80-90% of seed requirement

informal seed system by farmers

Photo: CBDC-Nan

Remains untapped, not priority area

Actual partition of rice seed supply in Vietnam

Formal sector

Seed Centers and State-owned Enterprises

Informal sector

Farm-saved seed

Local Tradingand Exchange

Private companies

The total seed requirement

From Presentation of Michael Turner, Danida

Farmers seed systemImportant seed source

Need for farmers to have control over their seeds especially in time of climate change Need for access to old and new materials

Need to be ‘protected’ from IPR and mis-appropriation as part of upholding Farmers’ Rights over seeds