Plant Variety Protection

Plant breeders are applying sophisticated breeding methods in order to develop new varieties with steadily improved properties. This is a heavy investment: German plant breeding companies use approximately 17 per cent of their turnover for research and development. When using seeds of the new varieties, the farmers profit from the achieved breeding progress. Protection of intellectual property rights is - as in other industries - the basis for refunding the expenditures necessary to achieve the breeding progress. In Germany, the intellectual property title for plant breeding is called "plant variety protection". It protects the unique genetic combination of a new variety and the resulting properties of the plant.

Advantages for farmers and breeders

Plant variety protection gives an intellectual property title in the plant variety to the plant breeder who has spent many years of work to develope it. In order to be able to adequately commercialize the results of these efforts, plant breeders file an application for German or for Community Plant Variety Protection for this new variety. Plant variety protection will only be granted if the new variety fulfils clearly defined conditions - it needs to be novel, distinct, uniform and stable and it must have a plant variety denomination. Plant variety protection is usually granted for 25 years. It protects the production, treatment, placing onto the market as well as the import or export of propagation material of the protected variety. A key element in plant variety protection is the so-called breeders' exemption. This gives the right to breeders to use the protected varieties of their competitors for developing new varieties without the consent of the plant variety protection right holder, and to place the resulting new varieties on the market. This ensures that plant breeders always have access to the most up-to-date genetic material and can work to improve it. The enormous progress achieved by plant breeding in Germany can be attributed to this protection system. It ensures that plant breeders can offer every year a rich choice of new and advantageous varieties to the farmers.

Plant breeding needs to be compensated

Farmers profit from the progress achieved by plant breeding. This is why it is in the best interest of the farmer to help refunding plant breeding. They do this when buying certified seed, since a license fee is included in the price for certified seed as a compensation for the breeding effort. This is how plant breeders re-finance their high investments. When withholding a part of their harvest and sowing it the next year, farmers continue to profit from the improved genetics in the next planting season, too; in this case, the compensation to the plant breeders takes the form of farm saved seed royalties payment.
 
 

Certified seed is the most important resource for cereal production. The reliability of a seed that has undergone several quality checks is a prerequisite for yield safety, i.e. the viability of farming. You can find more in-depth information under www.z-saatgut.de.

Farm saved seed royalties are an unpopular issue. However, they are necessary for farmers and plant breeders in order to ensure a sustained breeding progress. Please read more by clicking here .

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