Open source software like Linux is well-known and widely used. The origin of this concept can be traced to the ‘Free Software Movement’, which emphasised users’ right to the source code, to share, to modify, and to distribute modifications.
Richard Stallman, the U.S. programmer who pioneered this idea, also developed the General Public License (GPL), the first of the ‘Free and Open Source Software’ licences: it used copyright law to protect users’ rights and prevent misappropriation. If a piece of code is licensed GPL, then modifications to it should be GPL as well; this requirement also furthered the use of the licence.
Software and seeds seem as different as chalk and cheese – but as programmers have done for decades, farmers have innovated and shared seeds without any intellectual property rights (IPR) claims for centuries. Farmers also haven’t sought exclusive rights over seeds and germplasm to prevent others from innovating on the seeds. In this regard, software and seeds actually have a strong parallel.
What are plant-breeders’ rights?
But in stark contrast to GPL’s effects on the programming community, the advent of hybrid seeds, the growth of the commercial seed industry, scientific plant-breeding, and some other factors conferred plant breeders and developers of new varieties with the so called plant breeders’ rights (PBR). In this regime, farmers’ rights were limited while rights-holders could demand royalty on seeds and legally enforce PBRs. In some countries, the PBR regulations allow rights-holders to restrict the unauthorised use of seeds to develop new varieties.
In 1994, the establishment of the World Trade Organisation and then the Trade-Related IPR Agreement cast a global IPR regime over plant varieties. TRIPS required countries to provide at least one form of IP protection while consolidation in the seeds sector raised concerns about the freedom to innovate.
The Green Revolution was spearheaded by public-sector breeding institutions and seeds were available as ‘open pollinated varieties’, or as reasonably priced hybrids with no restrictions on farmers to cultivate, reuse and share. But the genetic revolution in agriculture was led by the private sector, with seeds mostly made available as hybrids and/or protected by strong IPRs.
How is IP protected in agriculture?
In effect, there are now two forms of IPR protection in agriculture: plant-breeders’ rights and patents. Together, they restrict farmers’ rights and the freedom to develop new varieties using germplasm from IP-protected varieties. They have thus further consolidated the seed sector and increased the number of plant varieties covered by IPRs.
The high prices of genetically modified seeds and IP claims triggered many problems, including the State’s intervention on Bt cotton seeds in India. As public sector breeding declined and the private sector began to dominate the seed sector, the need for alternatives became keenly felt.
This is when the success of open-source software inspired a solution. In 1999, a Canadian plant-breeder named T.E. Michaels suggested an approach to seeds based on the principles of open source software.
What are ‘open source seeds’?
In 2002, Boru Douthwaite and I (independently) proposed an open-source model for seeds and plant varieties. I called it the “BioLinux model”, and scholars and civil-society members alike discussed and built on it.
In 2012, Jack Kloppenburg, whose 1988 book First The Seed alerted the world to trends in the seeds sector and the use of IP to control farmers’ rights, launched the ‘Open Source Seeds Initiative’ (OSSI) in Wisconsin. A few years later, a German NGO named Agrecol launched another initiative in Europe. Since then similar programmes have come up around the world.
Agrecol’s model to meet legal requirements in Europe is based on a contracts approach in which the user agrees inter alia to not patent seeds bought under the open-source licence. The OSSI simply asks for a pledge, that an individual won’t “restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives”.
Are there such initiatives in India?
In India, the Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), part of the Apna Beej Network, developed a model incorporated into an agreementbetween CSA and the recipient of the seed/germplasm.
According to G. Rajshekar, who coordinates CSA’s Open Source Seeds Initiative, it is trying to use this approach through three farmer producer organisations (FPOs). This is similar to Agrecol’s strategy, using an agreement to ‘shrinkwrap’ a licence with contractual obligations.
Worldwide, the number of seed firms using open source models and the crop varieties and seeds made available thereunder is small but growing. India is yet to test and adopt it widely.
Under the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPVFRA) 2001, farmers can register varieties as ‘farmer varieties’ if they meet certain conditions, and have the right to reuse, replant, and exchange seeds. However, they can’t breed and trade in varieties protected under the Act for commercial purposes. Using the open source approach here will enable farmers to gain more rights over germplasm and seeds and facilitate innovation. So there is a need to test this approach with farmers and the three FPOs can take the lead.
Are there other ways the model can help?
One potential application of the open source approach is to use it in farmer-led seed conservation and distribution systems. There are many traditional-variety conservation and sharing initiatives in India ,including those involving farmers.
Many of them focus on traditional varieties that are unique to specific regions or sites and/or have specific features. To more widely adopt these varieties, the government and other stakeholders can consider an open source model.
The model can also be used to promote farmer-led participatory plant-breeding exercises. Traditional varieties often lack uniformity and aren’t of excellent quality. Open source principles can help overcome these two challenges by facilitating testing, improvisation, and adoption – all of which will ultimately be beneficial to India’s food security and climate resilience.
Krishna Ravi Srinivas is with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi.
- Software and seeds seem as different as chalk and cheese – but as programmers have done for decades, farmers have innovated and shared seeds without any intellectual property rights (IPR) claims for centuries.
- There are now two forms of IPR protection in agriculture: plant-breeders’ rights and patents.
- In India, the Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), part of the Apna Beej Network, developed a model incorporated into an agreement between CSA and the recipient of the seed/germplasm.
