Bioversity International has published an edited volume examining technical, policy and legal issues relating to the conservation and use of crop plant varieties developed by local farmers.
The publication also examines approaches to increase the share of benefits farmers receive from the use of such varieties.
11 April 2016: Bioversity International has published an edited volume examining technical, policy and legal issues relating to the conservation and use of crop plant varieties developed by local farmers. The publication also examines approaches to increase the share of benefits farmers receive from the use of such varieties.
The book, titled ‘Farmers’ Crop Varieties and Farmers’ Rights,’ describes how farmer management practices affect the evolution and maintenance of farmers’ varieties and explores how policies and legal approaches aiming to conserve agricultural biodiversity can accommodate these relationships.
The book is organized into five parts. Part one investigates factors affecting the evolution and maintenance of distinct traits in farmer’s varieties, including technical challenges to identification and farmers’ roles in supporting the evolution of new varieties. Part two illustrates these issues with case studies from Nepal, Syria and Viet Nam.
Part three discusses the international policy context for the conservation and use of farmers’ varieties through “Farmers’ Rights” including the history of international cooperation on crop genetic resources, the international policy debate and national implementation. Part four addresses legal aspects of identifying and protecting farmers’ varieties such as: sui generis forms of intellectual property protection under the Agreement in Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO); the evolution of registration systems for the conservation of agricultural biodiversity; approaches for the defensive protection of farmers’ varieties; and issues relating to institutional capacity and implementation. Part five contains 14 case studies of national laws and legal approaches for the protection of farmers’ varieties including analyses of the impacts of national plant breeding laws and systems of plant variety protection.
The book is currently available for purchase and will be free to download from the Bioversity International website in January 2017. Bioversity International is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. [Bioversity International Press Release] [Publication: Farmers’ Crop Varieties and Farmers’ Rights]