Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

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    The Inventory

    This online version of the Inventory presents, for each measure, the title and a brief description with information on implementing organization(s), start year, objectives, core elements, key outcomes, and, if applicable, lessons learned. It thus allows users to quickly identify those examples that may be of interest to them. A hyperlink to the original submission is provided, which includes additional information, such as on the history and context of the presented measure, challenges encountered, or target groups reached. In this way, users can get a more comprehensive idea of the measure in question and the specific context for which it was developed.
     
    To facilitate navigation, the Inventory is subdivided into eleven categories. Measures or practices that fall under more than one category are listed under each one that applies. Furthermore, information is provided on the type(s) of measures that are typically involved, such as technical, administrative, legal, and/or others, and on the relevant sub-article of Article 9 that is addressed. Additional search options allow searching by country, region, free text and keyword.
     
     
     
     
     
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    Number of records: 234

    71) Simplified procedures for conservation and amateur varieties

    In the Netherlands, variety testing and registration takes place under the responsibility of the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture (Naktuinbouw). Following the relevant EU Directives 2008/62 (for agricultural crops) and 2009/145 (for vegetables), the application procedure for listing and marketing landraces, varieties naturally adapted to local or regional conditions, and varieties developed for growing under specific conditions with no intrinsic value for commercial crop production (‘conservation’ and ‘amateur’ varieties) differs from those for formal varieties. Conservation and amateur varieties do not have to comply with the general requirements for uniformity and stability (DUS criteria), or Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU). One reason is that the costs for a DUS and/or VCU test might be higher than the profit that can be made with seed marketing. Therefore, the Dutch Government decided to accept only varieties for registration that are marketed. If the annual turnover is expected to be less than €500, a variety does not need to be listed at all. For all other conservation and amateur varieties, a simplified testing system has been developed.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Legal

    72) Exceptions to plant breeders’ rights and patent rights in the Netherlands

    In the Netherlands, farmers have the right to save, use, exchange and sell of varieties not falling under the protection of plant breeders’ rights or patent rights. Though, these seeds need to comply with quality standards as defined in the national seed law, in accordance with the European Seed Marketing Directive. Regarding varieties protected by plant breeders’ rights or patent rights, the farm-saved seeds exemption applies. For plant varieties protected by national plant breeders’ rights, exemptions are regulated by the Dutch Seed Law (Zaaizaad- en plantgoedwet, 2005). For plant varieties protected by European plant breeders’ rights, exceptions are regulated by Regulation (EC) 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights. For plant varieties falling under a patent (Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions), the same provision applies. Based on these exemptions, farmers in the Netherlands can use farm-saved seeds of protected varieties of a number of agricultural crop species (e.g. cereals and potatoes) on their own farm against the payment of a remuneration to the holder of a plant breeders’ right, but are not allowed to market farm-saved seeds of protected varieties.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Legal

    73) Landrace enhancement (‘grassroots breeding’)

    In 1998, Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), in cooperation with the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), Bioversity International and farmer groups, engaged in ‘grassroots breeding’ to promote conservation and use of local varieties by enhancing them for relevant traits and distributing them via formal and farmer-managed seed systems. Core components include: (1) identification of local crop diversity important for food security and/or income generation; (3) setting breeding goals based on in-depth discussion with communities; (3) collecting seed samples; (4) evaluation of collected samples; and (5) registration, seed production and distribution. Key outcomes include the development of a systematic method for landrace enhancement leading to the development of several improved varieties, e.g. of rice, millet and common beans. For some, variety release/registration proposals have been submitted to the National Seed Board (NSB) to enable formal distribution. In addition, community seed-producer groups and Community Seed Banks make the developed varieties constantly available to local farming communities. This process directly contributes to improving farmers' seed systems, promotes seed exchange and income-generation for farmers involved in seed production activities; varieties that were about to disappear are again cultivated by many farmers in large areas.

    Category: 7.Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    74) Morphological characterization of native crop varieties using farmers’ descriptors

    In 2001, in the frame of in situ conservation project, the National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA), together with several governmental and non-governmental organizations, conducted documentation of the morphological characteristics of native varieties of maize and potatoes using ‘peasant descriptors’. The objective was to make an inventory of the most important crops grown by farmers, using their own descriptors and language, in order to understand the diversity and variability of the native crops and varieties. Technicians and experts interacted with farmers and visited their fields were visited at different growth stages. Descriptors used by farmers ae related to leaves, stems, flowers, tubers, grains, and fruits; and they were based on places, people, colours, animals, and shapes. As a key result, morphological characteristics of different varieties of maize and potato crops according to farmers’ descriptions or terminologies, are elaborated and documented. During documentation, it revealed that women farmers are the knowledge holders, or play an important role in cultivating crops, since they ae experts in describing the diversity of native varieties they grew in their fields.

    Category: 7.Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    75) Private and non-commercial use project

    For subsistence and amateur farmers, the UPOV Convention of 1991 grants an exception for acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes. The Government of the Netherlands has supported the project ‘Private and non-commercial use’, which has been implemented jointly by the civil society organization Oxfam Novib and the sector association Plantum since 2017. The objective is to investigate the scope and possible implementation of this provision within the UPOV Convention of 1991, thereby trying to create clarity about the legal space of subsistence farmers to exchange and/or sell farm-saved seeds in the informal seed system. The project takes the views of stakeholder organizations (including governments, farmers, seed industry, civil society organizations and other international organizations) into consideration. Currently, the project is focusing on specific country case studies. By supporting this project, as well as stimulating the discussion on the private and non-commercial use exception on an international level, the Netherlands hope to create a constructive dialogue about the possibilities for subsistence farmers to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds.

    Category: 11.Other measures / practices

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Others