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Developing a registration system for farmers' varieties

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  • De Jonge, Bram
  • Dey, Bhramar
  • Visser, Bert

Abstract

Many countries only allow seed of registered varieties to be legally produced and sold in the market. Due to strict requirements regarding the characteristics (e.g., distinctness, uniformity, and stability) and performance (e.g., outperforming high-yielding varieties under standardized growing conditions) for varieties to be released, this implies that many farmers' varieties are confined to the spheres of the informal sector as ‘potential planting materials’: their production, use, exchange, and trade remain unregulated, largely unsupported, and their importance underestimated.

Suggested Citation

  • De Jonge, Bram & Dey, Bhramar & Visser, Bert, 2025. "Developing a registration system for farmers' varieties," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:222:y:2025:i:c:s0308521x24003330
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104183
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    2. Kaye Lushington, 2012. "The Registration of Plant Varieties by Farmers in India: A Status Report," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 2(1), pages 112-128, January-J.
    3. Delphine Renard & David Tilman, 2019. "National food production stabilized by crop diversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 571(7764), pages 257-260, July.
    4. Johannes Kotschi & Bernd Horneburg, 2018. "The Open Source Seed Licence: A novel approach to safeguarding access to plant germplasm," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-7, October.
    5. Lushington, Kaye, 2012. "The Registration of Plant Varieties by Farmers in India: A Status Report," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 2(01), July.
    6. Bellon, Mauricio R. & Kotu, Bekele Hundie & Azzarri, Carlo & Caracciolo, Francesco, 2020. "To diversify or not to diversify, that is the question. Pursuing agricultural development for smallholder farmers in marginal areas of Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    8. Salazar, Rene & Louwaars, Niels P. & Visser, Bert, 2007. "Protecting Farmers' New Varieties: New Approaches to Rights on Collective Innovations in Plant Genetic Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1515-1528, September.
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    Cited by:

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