scholarly journals Past, Present, and Future of Fruit Germplasm Exploration

HortScience ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-204
Author(s):  
Kim E. Hummer

The fruits of the earth have healed, nurtured, and intrigued humanity throughout history. Cultivated fruit species have complex genome that will continue to require the input of novel genetic resources. Prospecting for wild fruit species will continue. The global nature of science and commerce will drive the demand to expand available genetic resources for fruit improvement. New technologies will enable future explorers to reach remote sites and species. Recent advances, such as geopositioning and remote-communication devices, will be used to a greater degree for targeting specific collection sites and documenting records of origin. The sovereignty of countries over their plant genetic resources, as specified by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, will continue to be a cornerstone for negotiating bilateral agreements and plant exchange. Although this could be considered a limitation to plant exploration in some situations, global strategies now in conceptual infancy will be developed to encourage and support ex situ preservation and continued plant exchange for long-term conservation and humanitarian benefit.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Muhamad Sabran ◽  
Puji Lestari ◽  
Mastur Mastur

<p>The high diverse of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in Indonesia needs to be conserved for sustainable use to achieve food security despite a still growing population. Therefore, database and information system which could add value to the PGRFA have been developed by many international initiatives and conventions which impact to national level. Two international agreements that Indonesia intensively involved to govern access and share the benefit arising from the use of the valuable PGRFA are the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Nagoya Protocol of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Agriculture development in Indonesia, however, is still faced many challenges. This review described and discussed the high biodiversity in Indonesia, utilization and conservation of PGRFA, supporting regulation and policy on PGRFA along with the progress of database and information system. Overall, promoting conservation and the sustainable use of PGRFA is a key goal of various national, regional, and global efforts, initiatives, and agreements governing them for human well-being.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Wynberg ◽  
Regine Andersen ◽  
Sarah Laird ◽  
Kudzai Kusena ◽  
Christian Prip ◽  
...  

Contestations about the way in which digital sequence information is used and regulated have created stumbling blocks across multiple international policy processes. Such schisms have profound implications for the way in which we manage and conceptualize agrobiodiversity and its benefits. This paper explores the relationship between farmers’ rights, as recognized in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the dematerialization of genetic resources. Using concepts of “stewardship” and “ownership” we emphasize the need to move away from viewing agrobiodiversity as a commodity that can be owned, toward a strengthened, proactive and expansive stewardship approach that recognizes plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as a public good which should be governed as such. Through this lens we analyze the relationship between digital sequence information and different elements of farmers’ rights to compare and contrast implications for the governance of digital sequence information. Two possible parallel pathways are presented, the first envisaging an enhanced multilateral system that includes digital sequence information and which promotes and enhances the realization of farmers’ rights; and the second a more radical approach that folds together concepts of stewardship, farmers’ rights, and open source science. Farmers’ rights, we suggest, may well be the linchpin for finding fair and equitable solutions for digital sequence information beyond the bilateral and transactional approach that has come to characterize access and benefit sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Existing policy uncertainties could be seized as an unexpected but serendipitous opportunity to chart an alternative and visionary pathway for the rights of farmers and other custodians of plant genetic resources.


2011 ◽  
pp. 41-76
Author(s):  
Irene Superina

This document begins by describing and analysing the international institutional framework, within which both the Convention on Biological Diversity (Cbd), the Trip's about international protection of intellectual property and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Itpgrfa) had been originated. The regimes on access and benefit sharing applying to Pgrfa's (plant genetic resources for food and agriculture) are looked into in detail. Then, the new proposal under finalization within Cbd (Cbd Abs) is analized, which could become effective very soon. Finally, a particular focus is put on the research sector on Pgrfa's and how it has been treated and regulated. In connection to this, Itpgrfa 2001 is compared with the forthcoming new Cbd Abs regime, that could open new scenarios and new perspectives for this sector.


Author(s):  
Pratibha Brahmi ◽  
Vandana Tyagi

Genetic Resources (GR) refer to genetic material of actual or potential value. Use of GR refers to the process of researching their beneficial properties and using them to increase scientific knowledge and understanding, or to develop commercial products. There is continuous search for newer resources to meet the future demands that arise with the emergence of new diseases, abiotic stresses, climate change, and enhanced demand for food and nutritional security. GR are exchanged and searched continuously for specific traits to improve yields and nutritional value in crops and animal genetic resources. Every nation is concerned with acquisition of diverse and superior germplasm for conservation and utilization. The rapid advancements in the fields of molecular biology, biotechnology and bioinformatics, led to the emergence of new legal, political and technological regimes regulating access to GR. Three international negotiations impacted the access to GR, these are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as part of the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The regulation regarding access to GR, increasing application of IPRs and the vast potential of biological wealth yet to be tapped through bio-prospecting and genetic engineering, has placed greater demands on nations to adjust to the changing scenario of GR management. Currently access to GR is under the provisions of CBD and access to GR is based on mutually agreed terms (MAT), subject to prior informed consent (PIC). In response to CBD, India enacted the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002 and established the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) in 2003. Access to PGR from India is therefore regulated by BDA, 2002. The Nagoya Protocol which entered into force from October 2014 defines the international regime within the framework of CBD to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. The paper discusses these agreements in detail with reference to access and use of GR.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Drankier ◽  
Alex G. Oude Elferink ◽  
Bert Visser ◽  
Tamara Takács

Abstract This report examines whether it is possible for the research and use of marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) to follow an approach based on the system that is being used with plant genetic resources in areas within national jurisdiction, as developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Part IV of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture contains the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing. In addition, the report considers the implications of relevant provisions as contained in the Law of the Sea Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Antarctic Treaty System, as well as instruments on intellectual property rights. The report concludes with an assessment of the options within existing legal frameworks for accommodating an access and benefit-sharing system for marine genetic resources originating from ABNJ, and provides suggestions to move the international debate forward.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regine Andersen

Interplay between different international agreements is a novel field of study in regime theory. The importance of understanding this interplay is increasing, due to the rising number of international agreements with overlapping functional scopes. By including the time dimension in the study of regime interplay, per spectives are opened up, which may provide a better grasp of the dynamics of regime development. Three propositions are suggested in this article on how different development stages of overlapping international regimes affect their interplay. The propositions are illustrated with the case of overlapping regimes pertaining to the management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The regimes are the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The case study shows that an analytic grasp of the time dimension might uncover barriers to regime formation, as well as strategic opportunities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuhre Aksoy

The loss of biodiversity is a global environmental problem that poses important governance challenges. Effective governance of crop genetic resources as a component of biodiversity is essential, given that such resources are the building blocks of today's modern agriculture. This article examines the formal governance framework in place for crop genetic resources, as embodied in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and compares this to alternative modes of governance proposed by peasants' organizations such as Via Campesina. The author argues that the existing formal governance framework falls short of providing an effective mechanism for the conservation of crop genetic resources. Alternative governance mechanisms may more effectively connect the local and the global in a way that recognizes the contributions of local communities to conserving genetic resources in centers of diversity, and re-embeds their control over agricultural production processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol XII (2(21)) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Romanciuc ◽  

This paper reviews the international instruments related to the conservation and sustainable use of plant biodiversity, including agreements, governance and programs, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the FAO Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1823
Author(s):  
Hanna Schebesta

International legal instruments such as the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“Nagoya Protocol”) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (“ITPGRFA”) are meant to create incentives for fairly sharing the benefits of the utilization of genetic resources. These commitments have, however, been assessed by many stakeholders as an obstacle rather than an incentive to commercial activities. If this is indeed the case, ABS obligations may do more harm than good and raises the fundamental question: can ABS obligations be translated from an obstacle into an opportunity? The article discusses consumer-based mechanisms as positive drivers for benefit sharing by using private standards to incentivize ABS obligation compliance. This approach goes further than using private standards as implementation tools, and suggests that they could leverage advantages for industry from the consumer perspective, specifically a consumer-facing label on products. We suggest a research strategy addressing this approach.


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