Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

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    The Inventory

    This online version of the Inventory presents, for each measure, the title and a brief description with information on implementing organization(s), start year, objectives, core elements, key outcomes, and, if applicable, lessons learned. It thus allows users to quickly identify those examples that may be of interest to them. A hyperlink to the original submission is provided, which includes additional information, such as on the history and context of the presented measure, challenges encountered, or target groups reached. In this way, users can get a more comprehensive idea of the measure in question and the specific context for which it was developed.
     
    To facilitate navigation, the Inventory is subdivided into eleven categories. Measures or practices that fall under more than one category are listed under each one that applies. Furthermore, information is provided on the type(s) of measures that are typically involved, such as technical, administrative, legal, and/or others, and on the relevant sub-article of Article 9 that is addressed. Additional search options allow searching by country, region, free text and keyword.
     
     
     
     
     
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    Number of records: 233

    151) East-West Seed’s best practices on the implementation of Article 9 (Farmers’ Rights) of the ITPGRFA

    East-West Seed is a private seed company focusing on vegetable seed production for tropical conditions. It has developed several ‘good practices’ for the implementation of Article 9 of the International Treaty. For example, the company maintains strong ties with national genebanks; a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2018 between East- West Seed Co. Inc.-Philippines (EWPH) and the National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory (NPGRL) to collaborate on crop germplasm conservation, research and training. EWPH will assist NPGRL in reviving, regenerating and characterizing its old germplasm collection and to provide trainings relating to germplasm conservation. EWPH also maintains a pool of smallholder farmers known as Product Development Support (PDS) farmers, who conduct on-farm trials of newly bred vegetable varieties. These PDS farmers take an active role in deciding which newly bred vegetable varieties will be introduced in the market. Since 2000, EWPH has further engaged in extension and knowledge transfer activities in the Philippines and other countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, India and Tanzania) by organizing farmer field schools, setting up demonstration farms, conducting field days and harvest festivals to promote profitable and sustainable production practices.

    Category: 7.Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    152) IPOPhl-NCIP Joint Administrative Order No. 01-2016 ‘Rules and Regulations on Intellectual Property Rights Application and Registration Protecting the Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Cultural Communities

    The IPOPhl-NCIP Joint Administrative Order No.1-2016 was issued by the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPhl) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in 2016. Considering certain limitations of protection and requirements for registration, which Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) may not be able to comply with under the IP Code and which are not consistent with the concept of community intellectual rights under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, the joint administrative order provides for the recognition of full ownership, control and protection of ICCs’/IPs’ community intellectual rights. Compliance by the intellectual property right applicant requires free and prior informed consent and disclosure of the use of any indigenous knowledge systems relating to genetic resources, including indigenous knowledge associated with wild/indigenous plants and food, traditional varieties, and landraces of ICCs and IPs, in intellectual property rights applications filed with IPOPhl. The NCIP is responsible to establish an IKSP registry, which shall be made available to the IPOPhl for use in the examination of intellectual property rights applications. The Joint Administrative Order will provide for capacity development of ICCs/IPs to enhance the protection and management of their intellectual property rights and Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative

    153) Philippine Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 9168 of 2002)

    The Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002 provides exclusive rights to plant breeders over the propagating material of their protected variety, i.e. the right to authorize the production or reproduction, conditioning for the purpose of propagation, offering to sale, selling or other marketing strategies, exporting, importing and stocking of the plant variety. The Certificate of Plant Variety Protection does not, however, extend to the traditional right of small farmers to save, use, exchange, share or sell farm produce of a variety protect¬ed under the Act; the objective is to maintain these practices of small-scale farmers. The National Plant Protection Board determines the conditions under which this exception shall apply. The Board is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology and vice-chaired by the Director-General of the Intellectual Property Office. Members include (1) the Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry; (2) the Director of the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines; (3) the President of the Philippine Seed Industry Association; (4) a representative of the federation of small-scale farmers; and (5) a registrar. So far, there have been no reports of infringement.

    Category: 8.Farmers’ participation in decision-making at local, national and sub-regional, regional and international levels

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Legal

    154) Capacity Building and Promotion of Dynamic Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agro-biodiversity in traditional ecosystems of the Philippines/In situ conservation of traditional varieties

    Following the successful implementation of the FAO-GEF funded ‘Conservation and Adaptive Management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Global Project’ (2005-2015), an upscaled FAO-GEF Philippine project was started in 2017, led by the Department of Agriculture along with partner institutions at different levels. The project aims to develop capacities of stakeholders to promote dynamic conservation practices that sustain globally significant agrobiodiversity in traditional agroecosystems of the Philippines. Core components include (1) mainstreaming agrobiodiversity considerations into policy and legal frameworks, development strategies and institutional structures; (2) on-the-ground activities to enhance and expand dynamic conservation practices for agrobiodiversity in three pilot municipalities; and (3) dissemination of information and awareness raising. Key achievements include agrobiodiversity inventory, mapping, and documentation, e.g. of traditional rice varieties and wild relatives in several municipalities of Ifugao province and of the indigenous fibre crop ‘abaca’ in South Cotabato province; collection and depository od traditional rice seeds to national genebank; establishment of 17 community seed banks; trainings on product development and marketing; linking farmers and private enterprises; and proposed amendments to include Farmers’ Rights in the Seed Act.

    Category: 5.In-situ/on farm conservation and management of PGRFA, such as social and cultural measures, community biodiversity management and conservation sites

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    155) Increasing genetic diversity and realizing Farmers’ Rights through Evolutionary Participatory Plant Breeding (EPPB)

    Since 2008, the Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (Cenesta) has started an Evolutionary Participatory Plant Breeding (EPPB) Programme in Iran in collaboration with several national and international partners, including governmental, non-governmental and research organizations as well as farmers’ associations. The objective was to enhance the resilience of targeted low-input marginal farmers in different microclimates of Iran through increasing genetic diversity and developing evolutionary crop populations with higher and stable yields under conditions of climate change and local stress conditions, including drought, water scarcity, salinity, pests and diseases. Core components were: (1) establishing evolutionary populations (EPs) in farmers’ fields and ensuring sustainable seed supply; and (2) enhancing the policy and regulatory frameworks for sustainable use of PGRFA. The Programme further addressed capacity development of farmers and researchers to ensure the necessary institutional support to access, maintain and use evolutionary crop populations, which increase productive gains while at the same time maintaining yield stability and ecosystem resilience under changing climate conditions. Additionally, EPPB can provide the market with nutritious food and feed.

    Category: 7.Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection

    Type of measure/practice: Technical