Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2. There is no universal definition for genetic resources. Article 2 of the Convention on
Biological Diversity defines them as “genetic material of actual or potential value”; genetic
material, in turn, is defined as “any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin
containing functional units of heredity.” Although “biological material” is often used as a
synonym for “genetic resources,” the EU Directive on Legal Protection of Biotechnological
Inventions defines biological material as “material containing genetic information and
capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system.” Article 2 of the
FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture defines
plant genetic resources as “any material of plant origin including reproductive and veg-
etative propagating material, containing functional units of heredity.” Article 2.1(a) of the
FAO International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (1983) provides an expansive
definition that includes wild and weed species (Blakeney 2011).
3. See Kloppenburg and Kleinman (1988), Crosby (1972), and Wood (2011) for details.
4. Kloppenburg (1988, 49).
5. See Halewood, Norigea, and Louafi (2013) and Frisoon, Lopez, and Esquinas (2011) for
extensive analysis of the treaty and its implementation.
6. Oguamanam (2014) and Aoki (2008) have examined this in detail.
7. See Srinivas (2006S) and Marden and Godrefy (2012) for details.
8. See Kloppenburg (2004) for an extensive analysis.
9. Lewontin and Berlan (1986) and Ramey (2010) provide a Marxist analysis of the develop-
ment of hybrids and the expansion of the seed industry. See also Fitzgerald (1993).
10. See Dutfield (2008) for details on the origins of UPOV and its growth.
11. Under UPOV 1991 the criteria are distinctness, uniformity, and stability (DUS), which are
defined as:
Distinctness (Article 7): The variety must be “clearly distinguishable from any other vari-
ety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge” at the time when protection is
applied for; Uniformity (Article 8): The variety must be sufficiently uniform in its distin-
guishing characteristics, such that different individuals of the same variety are reasonably
similar; and Stability (Article 9): The variety must be stable in its distinguishing character-
istics, that is, it remains “unchanged after repeated propagation or, in the case of a particu-
lar cycle of propagation, at the end of each such cycle.”
13. For an in-depth analysis of plant variety protection and in Europe, see Llewelyn and
Adcock (2006).
14. See Rangnekar (2013) for an analysis of the Indian PVP system.
15. See Santilli (2012) for details.
16. See Maskus (2012) and Drexl, Ruse-Khan, and Nadde-Phlix (2014) for details.
17. See Narasimhan (2008) for an analysis. To what extent countries have been able to
implement such systems is an important question; for a case study on Thailand, see
Lertdhamtewe (2012).
18. See Dunwell (2010) for details with examples.
20. See Sastry, Rashmi and Badri (2011) for details. See also Ramasundaram, Kurup, and
Chand (2011).
21. See Linton and Torsekar (2010) for details and a comparative study of the role of the public
sector in China and India, and Spielman et al. (2011) for an analysis of the private sector
and public sector in the seed sector in India.
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