Promoting Sustainable Innovations in Plant Varieties

This book develops the term 'Sustainable Innovations' and defines it on the basis of plant variety innovations that, by their very nature, (i) permit the in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity and genetic variability in diverse geographic and climatic conditions, (ii) do not exclude any potential innovators from the process of innovation, and thereby (iii) ensure that both formal and informal innovations can continue to take place in the generations to come (in both the developed and developing world). The book studies the Indian Plant Variety Protection Act, the UPOV Acts and associated agricultural policies from a legal, philosophical, historical and economic perspective with the aim of determining the means of promoting sustainable innovations in plant varieties and identifying laws, policies and practices that are currently acting as impediments to promoting the same.

Explains the importance of Sustainable Innovations concept using data collected through interviews with more than 150 farmers in an important agrobiodiversity hotspot Studies means of promoting 'sustainable innovations' in plant varieties from a multi-disciplinary perspective Provides unique and new philosophical, legal, historical and empirical insights into the field of agricultural seed related innovations and adopts a novel methodology that can be duplicated and developed in future research Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Introduction: An economic & philosophical introduction to sustainable innovation in plant varieties.- Overview of the international legal framework for the protection of plant varieties & agrobiodiversity.- The science and sociology of plant breeding and in situ agrobiodiversity conservation.- The Indian protection of plant varieties & Farmers Rights Act 2001: A critical overview.- Data coding, interpretation and analysis.- Addressing market failures for sustainable innovations in plant varieties.- Conclusions & recommendations: Leveling the incentives landscape to promote sustainable innovations in plant varieties.