The Privatization of Public Seed Breeding
Once managed as a public resource, seed is now one of the most privatized agricultural inputs today. Public plant breeding programs were originally designed to develop publicly available crop varieties meant to be used freely by farmers and other researchers. However, over the past few decades intellectual property rights policies, the consolidation of the agriculture industry, and declining federal investment in public cultivar research have shifted the balance of plant breeding activity at land grant universities from projects that benefit the public good towards research that supports private enterprise. Public plant breeding programs may now be at risk of extinction, which would have severe implications for the future of agriculture, including organic and regenerative farming practices.
Join us for a lively panel discussion to learn more about the current state of seed policy, public plant breeding and the impact on our food system.
Panelist Bios:
Dr. Michael Mazourek is a vegetable breeder at Cornell University, a land-grant institution that boasts one of the top plant breeding departments in the nation. Through his work, Michael serves grower needs through improving disease and insect resistance as well as flavor in agro ecologically based production systems. He is one of the last three remaining public vegetable breeders left in the Northeast, and is currently the only public cucumber breeder in the country.
Kiki Hubbard is the director of advocacy and communications for Organic Seed Alliance. Kiki's work on seed policy spans 20 years in the areas of antitrust, biotechnology, consolidation, intellectual property, and organic regulation. In addition to promoting policies and actions that advance organic seed systems, Kiki manages OSA's State of Organic Seed project and leads federal policy initiatives targeting Congress and federal agencies.
Moderator: Myra Manning has spent the past eight years in the seed industry. Her experience spans hybrid development, variety trialing, and overseeing collaborative breeding partnerships. She currently consults with the Oishii Nippon Project under Tokita, a Japanese seed company.
