BP Singh

Intellectual Property Rights : Protection of Plant Varieties 239Farmers' RightsIt will be desirable to mention Farmer's Rights while we arediscussing Breeder's Rights, According to FAG resolution no. 5189, Farmers' Rights arise from the past, present and futurecontributions of farmer&- in conserving, improving and makingavailable plant genetic resources, particularly those in the centresof origin I diversity. Attempt is made sometimes to treat theserights as privileges. This is not acceptable because privileges areconsidered optional and can be withdrawn.Farmers' Rights·are basic rights and can not be compromised.These rights should essentially include those arising from nonformalinnovations linked to accural of monetary benefits wheredue, the right to save, use and sell their own seed, the right to theirharvested plant materials and also the right to quality seeds.Burden of proof of innocence or otherwise should be on theaccusers and not on the farmers. Whereas Farmers' Rights arewidely..acknowledged, mechanisms of their implementation arestill being debated.It is worth recalling that agriculture began around 10,000years ago. If this time span is condensed into an hour,conservation of plant germplasm in botanic gardens and otherliving collections began within the last minute while gene bankswith long term storage capabilities appeared just a few secondsback. Plant genetic resources have been selected, developed usedand safeguarded by farmer families and farming communitiesthrough successive generations for most of the time. The keyquestion is whom to reward and how? Tribal people, ruralcommunities and farmer families deserve attention in this context.Proposed Plant Variety Protect~.onLegislation in IndiaAgricultural plants alongwith life-saving drugs were excludedfrom the purview of Indian Patent Act of 1970 that permittedprocess patenting only and not the end-product patenting. Thisact was amended by the Government of India through apresidential ordinance issued on 31 Decembe.r, 1994 that allowedpatenting of produce and extended it to all pharmaceuticals andalso to agriculture. An effort is now underway to develop aneffective Sui generis system for plant variety protection and providea suitable legal framework as reguired under GATT provisions.