Don’t confuse plant breeders rights with GMOs, researchers assert

Ghanaian scientists are not enthused at what they say is public misinformation on passage of the Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) bill.

The researchers are seeking a strong legal framework to protect their intellectual property rights.

The bill which is before parliament will allow commercial end-users of research products to pay royalties to the scientists and their institutions.

But some advocacy groups, including the Food Sovereignty Ghana and the Coalition for Farmers’ Right, are kicking against the bill in its current form.

They argue the bill will pave way for importation of genetically modified foods into the country, as well as compromise farmers’ rights in accessing seedlings for planting.

However, Director of the Crops Research Institute (CRI), Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah says the groups are confusing the new bill with the bio-safety law which was passed in 2010.

According to him, the PBR process started in 2003 as part of the Plant and Fertilizer Bill, but the PBR section was teased out because it bothered on intellectual property.

“Even the conventional breeding, only 10 percent of the farmers are using improved varieties; all that we are doing here in the face of climate change with its attendant problems confronting the farmers, is to give the farmers a lot of options to choose from,” stressed the plant breeder. “Nobody can force any farmer to grow or use a variety that the farmer is not interested in”.

Institutes under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and other researchers have developed diverse genetic materials and technologies.

The Crops Research Institute (CRI), for instance, has developed and released over 100 improved crop varieties and production technologies for adoption by farmers and other end-users.

“Because there is no law in this nation protecting the rights of the breeders, anybody can take any of the materials and use it without anything accruing to the government and people of Ghana,” noted Dr. Adu-Dapaah.

The objective of the Plant Breeders Rights Bill is to establish a legal framework to acknowledge the achievements of breeders of new varieties and to protect their intellectual property.

It will also promotes the breeding of new varieties of plants aimed at improving the quantity, quality and cost of food, fuel, fibre and raw materials for industry.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh