An Agrobiodiversity Perspective on Seed Policies

Abstract

The genetic erosion that followed the emergence of scientific plant breeding and the changes in agricultural production are the result of globalization and cannot be attributed to seed policies and legislation in particular. However, seed regulations can have a very important and often negative impact on local seed systems and the genetic diversity that is used and maintained in such systems. Also, seed legislation and intellectual property rights have a marked effect on formal and participatory plant breeding programs and on the number of varieties released to farmers. The recent developments of international regulations on intellectual property and the upcoming biotechnology revolution are likely to aggravate the current trend. Thus, policies on plant genetic resources and agrobiodiversity on the one hand and seed policies on the other hand influence each other and should be closely connected.International agreements such as the FAO International Undertaking on Genetic Resources for Agriculture and the Convention on Biological Diversity may have a positive, regulating effect on the balance of power, but it is not yet clear whether these agreements will indeed have the desired effects on agrobiodiversity. Policy makers that develop or redesign seed policies and legislation should take international and local biodiversity issues and the objectives of the international agreements into account.