Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Reinventing Plants for Novel Uses
To capture the market, plants not only need to be produced environmentally, and
economically but also need to be well publicised (von Hentig
1995
). Often plants
are reinvented to suit the market. It may not always be necessary to breed new cul-
tivars but rather show new uses for an old previously popular cultivar. For example
pansies (
Viola tricolor
) and scaevola (
Scaevola coriacea
) have been used as potted
plants in providing a kaleidoscope of colours in a landscape setting. However, by
combining different colours in larger pots to represent a theme, e.g. a country's flag
during an exposition, it is possible to provide a whole new impact. In addition, by
combining plants of different heights, textures and colours an immediate visual ef-
fect can be achieved.
Intellectual Property Considerations
To ensure the continued maintenance of plant quality, there is a need to protect
intellectual property and safeguard investment providing return to the plant breeder
(Dixon and Ogier
2011
), the industry has developed the International Union for
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention http://upov.int). The
protocols of UPOV were adopted in Paris in 1961 and revised in 1991 (UPOV
2012
). The member countries, of which Australia is one, have agreed to adhere to
the principles of plant protection for the benefit of society to ensure that any new
cultivars are afforded protection. This protection can also be afforded, depending on
the country, by some form of Plant Breeder Rights (PBR) or a patent. For instance,
within Australia a PBR is used to protect new cultivars that are distinguishable, uni-
form and stable (IP Australia
2012
). PBR involves an application that describes the
origin, parents, and a field examination that compares the new strain with similar
cultivars. Results of successful PBR are published in the
Plant Varieties Journal
(IP Australia
2012
). The collection of royalties that provide for an ongoing income
stream for new cultivars for breeding and development may involve a pot plant levy
placed on the plant material together with a licensing agreement for a nursery to
produce the plant material. The World Trade Organisation (WTO
2012
) and World
Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO
2013
) provide the legislation to protect
intellectual property rights and investment in a new cultivar and encourage global
trade (Dixon and Ogier
2011
). Other approaches to offer protection of new cultivars
has been the use of devitalisation techniques to render the stems unable to be propa-
gated as a quarantine requirement to keep out foreign diseases (DAFF
2012
). This
technique has been applied in the export of wildflowers from Australia where cut
flower stems are devitalised using a solution of glyphosate (Seaton et al.
2010
) to
render the flowers unable to be propagated where new cultivars are being exported.
Developing efficient and cost-effective commercial production processes is a chal-
lenge for industry longevity and being able to utilise the vast genetic heritage avail-
able across the world's biomes.
