In defense of farmer saved seeds

Richard Gray

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Abstract: In many countries, farmer saved seed (FSS) competes directly with a highly regulated commercial seed industry that sells certified seed. Opponents to the use FSS argue that it reduces the royalty income for plant breeders and is inferior in quality, which reduces farm profitability. We argue that because farmers have knowledge about field history and the quality of saved seed, they can make profit enhancing decisions to use, or not to use, FSS. We also show that payment of royalties is a matter of intellectual property rights and not directly a function of the use of FSS. Notably, Australia actively promotes the use of FSS for wheat and has some of the highest levels of rates of royalty revenue collection in the world.

Keywords: Farmer saved seed; Profitability; Revenue (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-env and nep-ipr
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03893995
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, 2021, 102 (4), pp.451-460. ⟨10.1007/s41130-021-00162-y⟩

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Journal Article: In defense of farmer saved seeds (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03893995

DOI: 10.1007/s41130-021-00162-y

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