This paper reviews and discusses how studies on (i) on-farm diversity assessment, (ii) access to diversity and information, (iii) extent of use of available materials and information, and (iv) benefits obtained by the farmer or farming community from their use of local crop diversity, are necessary to identify the different ways of supporting farmers and farming communities in the maintenance of traditional varieties and crop genetic diversity within their production systems. Throughout this paper two key themes are emphasized. First, any description or analysis within the four main areas (assessment, access, use and benefit) can, and most probably will, lead to a number of different actions. Second, the decision to implement a particular action, and therefore its success, will depend on farmers and the farming community having the knowledge and leadership capacity to evaluate the benefits that this action will have for them. This in turn emphasizes the importance of activities (whether by local, national...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07352689.2011.554358

An Heuristic Framework for Identifying Multiple Ways of Supporting the Conservation and Use of Traditional Crop Varieties within the Agricultural Production System

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, referred to as the Plant Treaty, was approved on 3 November 2001 by Members of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), headquartered in Rome, Italy. The FAO is an agency of the United Nations, headquartered in New York City, New York. The Plant Treaty established international standards for the conservation and exchange of plant genetic material between participating countries. Plant genetic material is a term for plant germplasm, the physical material used by plants to reproduce themselves, and the term connotes seeds, vegetative propagations, and DNA. Plant genetic resources are the collective genetic diversity of plant species in the laboratory, farm, and field. They are described as resources because of their value for food and agricultural purposes.

International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Genomic selection is proving an effective new strategy for increasing breeding efficiency in a wide variety of cereal species - the staple crops that feed the world. A preponderance of studies, reviewed here, has confirmed that the more correlated phenotypic and environmental data that are used to feed genomics-assisted breeding models, the better the prediction accuracies of the models and the more useful the breeding outcomes. We argue that based on these empirical results, new alliances to share data across genomic selection breeding programs are critical to the rapid development and deployment of new crop varieties.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nph.14174

When more is better: how data sharing would accelerate genomic selection of crop plants.

The main goal of this Explanatory Guide is to facilitate the understanding of the legal obligations of the Parties under the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This guide is the product of a fruitful, constructive, and harmonious collaboration with ABS experts from different regions and international institutions who engaged with IUCN in the writing and reviewing of this Guide. This publication serves as an adaptable tool for future ABS capacity-building and awareness raising initiatives, as well as an important reference for countries in their efforts to implement the Nagoya Protocol and operationalize ABS in practice.

An Explanatory Guide to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (Chinese version)

Prof. em Dr. Marc Boes (KU Leuven), Chairmain Prof. Dr. Philippe Cullet (SOAS University of London) Prof. Dr. Tom Dedeurwaerdere (UCLouvain), Supervisor Prof. Dr. Olivier De Schutter (UCLouvain), Supervisor Prof. Dr. Esquinas-Alcazar (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) Prof. Dr. Marie-Christine Janssens (KU Leuven) Prof. Dr. Geertrui Van Overwalle (KU Leuven), Supervisor TOWARDS REDESIGNING THE PLANT COMMONS

https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/402362

Towards redesigning the plant commons : a critical assessment of the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing of the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

The entry into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture marks the commitment of the world community to a freestanding convention directed at addressing both global needs for food security and internationally agreed objectives regarding the concepts of access and benefit-sharing found in the Convention on Biological Diversity. The sixth in a series of Guides to the implementation of particular international instruments and concepts, it seeks to promote greater understanding of the Treatys text, including some of the scientific, technical and legal issues upon which it is founded, and possible implications.

/pdf/explanatory-guide-to-the-international-treaty-on-plant-1zqiluem4e.pdf

Explanatory guide to the International treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

Explanatory guide to the International treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (Chinese version)

La entrada en vigor del Tratado Internacional sobre los Recursos Fitogeneticos para la Agricultura y la Alimentacion marca el compromiso de la comunidad internacional con un acuerdo independiente dirigido a abordar tanto las necesidades mundiales de seguridad alimentaria como los objetivos acordados a nivel internacional en relacion con los conceptos de "acceso y participacion en los beneficios plasmados en el Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biologica. Esta es la sexta de una serie de guias para la implementacion de instrumentos y conceptos internacionales especificos, que aspira a promover una mayor comprension del texto del Tratado, incluyendo algunos de los aspectos cientificos, tecnicos y juridicos sobre los que se basa, y las posibles consecuencias.

Guía explicativa del tratado internacional sobre los recursos fitogenéticos para la alimentación y la agricultura

Lentree en vigueur du Traite international sur les ressources phytogenetiques pour lalimentation et lagriculture signale lengagement de la communaute mondiale a legard dun accord autonome qui a pour but daborder a la fois la necessite dassurer la securite alimentaire au niveau mondial et les objectifs ayant fait lobjet dun consensus international relatifs aux concepts « dacces et de partage des avantages » figurant dans la Convention sur la diversite biologique. Ce guide, sefforce de faciliter la comprehension du texte du Traite, des questions scientifiques, techniques et juridiques sur lesquelles il repose, et de ses possibles implications.

Witold Tymowski

Papers

Explanatory guide to the International treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

Explanatory guide to the International treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (Chinese version)

Guía explicativa del tratado internacional sobre los recursos fitogenéticos para la alimentación y la agricultura

Guide explicatif du traité international sur les ressources phytogénétiques pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture