Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and Development Policy in Agriculture, Biotechnology and Genetic Resources

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive background and overview of key issues, debates and positions related to the international regulation and application of intellectual property rights over agriculture, genetic resources, including biotechnology and the use of IPR's as plant and intellectual property protection. It explores the linkages among biological diversity, biotechnology developments and intellectual property with specific view on the relationship between access to biological and genetic resources, agriculture systems and increased poverty levels in India. This paper examines the significance of intellectual property rights in agricultural innovations, genetic resources and biotechnology and the possibilities for the protection through the context of the TRIPS and the WTO agreement on Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. With the growth of private investment in developing country, agriculture, genetic resources, new advances in the biotechnology, and rapid integration of developing countries into the global trading system, intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become an important concern in the agricultural sector. The paper focuses specifically on the case of India and other developing countries, implementing IPRs in agriculture and Biotechnology. Findings indicate that yields grew significantly during the last two decades due to the combination of public investment in hybrid breeding programs that generated new materials offering substantial yield gains, and biological IPRs conferred by hybridization that conveniently need for substantial productivity growth in agriculture.