Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
further research. Nevertheless, enforcement of intellectual property rights has not been
easy in developing countries, as farmers have found ways to evade formal regulations
(Herring 2007).
New Technological Options, Climate
Change, Intellectual Property Rights
Traditional plant breeding combined with new technologies can hasten the develop-
ment of new varieties or can result in the development of transgenic plants with desired
traits.26 For example, marker assisted selection (MAS) in breeding has reduced the
number of generations needed to evaluate breeding materials. But MAS has not been
used effectively by public crop improvement projects due to high costs and restrictions
imposed by intellectual property rights. Patents on many selectable markers used in
transgenics have been granted (e.g., genetic markers associated with drought tolerance
in maize). New techniques like reverse breeding, cisgenesis and intragenesis, and syn-
thetic genomics are useful in introducing traits such as male sterility, modified starch
content, and bacterial resistance, but there are many patents on these techniques. What
is important is not just the number, but also the scope of patent claims. Obtaining mul-
tiple related patents could effectively block access to newer techniques.27 When many
related patents are granted to many parties with none of them able to use the technolo-
gies without the consent or license from others, a situation known as anti-commons can
emerge: fragmented ownership can result in increased transaction costs and restricted
access to patented technologies. The proliferation of patents on techniques, parts of
DNA, and biological materials may then hamper access to technologies or raise costs
prohibitively.
Climate change is likely to affect agriculture adversely, particularly in developing
countries, and result in significant reductions in food output. The need for developing
varieties that could be useful in climate change mitigation and adaptation is clear (see
Watson, this volume). Varieties have to be developed and deployed within the next few
decades. These varieties are needed most in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
that are less likely to have the capacity to develop and deploy them. Brazil, India, and
China have strong national agricultural research innovation systems, and they are giv-
ing importance to this problem. Research centers under CGIAR (Consultative Group
on International Agricultural Research) are likewise developing such varieties. While
many traditional varieties have the desired traits such as drought, flood, and salinity
tolerance, developing modern varieties with such multi-gene traits and good yields is
a daunting challenge, requiring access to germplasm and state-of-the-art techniques
(Newell-McGloughlin, this volume).
Patenting of genes relating to plant varieties relevant for climate change adaptation
and mitigation has become a contentious issue. In 2008 the ETC Group released a study
 
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