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: 233

    91) Protecting seeds as commons with an open-source license

    OpenSourceSeeds (OSS) is a European initiative of the German Association for AgriCulture and Ecology (Agrecol), launched in April 2017. It pursues the objective to protect agricultural seeds as commons. It helps to establish a commons-based seed sector as a second pillar next to the private seed sector. The initiative has four core components: (1) licensing new varieties open-source and documenting them in a database; (ii) propagating and introducing OS seeds to the market; (iii) raising public awareness for seeds as a common good; and (iv) research and Development on new concepts to finance non-private (IPR-free) plant breeding. Currently, it has 9 new varieties/populations licensed open source (3 tomato varieties, 3 wheat varieties, 1 sweetcorn, 1 pepper and 1 potato variety). These OS varieties are listed in sales catalogues. Lessons learned include that plant breeders to use the license takes time, developing new financing concepts for plant breeding is a key issue for success, and the principle of seeds as commons is quite popular among consumers.

    Category: 6.Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    92) La chacra – an alternative for the rescue, conservation and use of agrobiodiversity in Amazonian villages

    Starting from 2016, the Amazonian Research Station of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), a public research organization, in cooperation with the local governments of the three provinces of Sucumbíos, Orellana and Napo, has initiated work on the conservation of a traditional agrobiodiversity-rich production system known as ‘chacra’. The objective is to strengthen these production systems and to provide incentives for farmers through enhanced productivity and income generation from local crops. The chacra cultivation system is based on the integration of four components: human, plant, animal and geophysical (soil, water and air); a good integration of these components results in improved biodiversity-rich habitats. The chacra system plays an important role in biodiversity conservation and as a source of germplasm; it is further of importance for climate-change adaptation and differentiated value-chain development. Around 500 Amazonian farms have been reached by activities for strengthening the chacra system. Many of these farms cultivate local species to produce food, fibre, medicine, dyes and wood; in addition, activities for value-addition have resulted in processing and marketing of coffee from the chacra system; producers are currently participating in both national and international fairs.

    Category: 5.In-situ/on farm conservation and management of PGRFA, such as social and cultural measures, community biodiversity management and conservation sites

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    93) Presidential Decree protecting the Centre of Origin and Diversity

    Mexico is the centre of origin and diversity for maize and the world’s largest, most diverse, and oldest living genetic resource for corn. Nearly sixty landraces grow in Mexico. For centuries, farmers have maintained this biodiversity on milpas, small plots cultivated with corn, beans, and squash varieties. In 2009, changes to Mexico’s biosafety law allowed biotech crop developers for the first time to experiment with genetically modified organism (GMO) corn trials in approved regions of Mexico. Since then, dozens of pilot permits have tested GMO corn strains for their tolerance to herbicides and resistance to insects and drought. Over the years, there have been concerns raised about the impact of genetically modified maize on local varieties. On January 1st of 2021, a Presidential Decree in Mexico went into effect to phase out the ‘use, acquisition, distribution, promotion, and import" of glyphosate. The Decree establishes a transition period until January 2024 to replace glyphosate with sustainable, culturally appropriate alternatives to "safeguard human health, biocultural diversity, and the environment. The Decree also obliges biosafety authorities to "revoke and refrain" from granting permits for the release into the environment of genetically modified maize seeds to protect food security and food sovereignty, native corn, traditional cornfields and the country’s biocultural wealth.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Others

    94) Training and awareness creation work shop for Community Seed Banks

    Since 1994, the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute established over 30 community seed banks (CSBs) and organized Crop Conservator Associations (CCA) in various regional states of Ethiopia. In 2021, a new project has begun with the objectives of establishing a national CSBs platform that will support existing CSBs and networks of nearly 30 CSBs in different agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia, in addition to scaling out their activities and achievements, and contribute to strengthening the informal seed system. The key components of the project will be: (1) to support farmers sustainably use and conserve PGRFA; (2) network households in different agro-ecological zones networked and training on quality seed production from planting to storage; and exchange on technical CSB management and sustainable business model experience among different agro-ecological zones; (3) re-introduce, conserve and disseminate locally adapted varieties with farmers’ participation; (4) enhance seed systems to promote the use of adapted varieties through CSBs and Field Gene Banks (FGBs); (5) diversify local agricultural systems for enhanced resilience through the cultivation of cereals, pulses and others, and (6) characterize, phenotype, evaluate, document and pre-breed crop species of PGRFA for traits of importance to adaptation and resilience.

    Category: 9.Training, capacity development and public awareness creation

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    95) 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