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 Enquiries SEED News - mar/apr 2008
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This section is coordinated by the professors from the Federal University of Pelotas-Brazil, with the objective of answering the inquiries sent by the readers.
Send your question to e-mail: silmar@seednews.inf.br
"The news that Brazil finally has its own soybean varieties resistant to Asian rust is a major event, since my crops demanded at least two sprayings per growing season to control the spread of this disease. These new varieties are important, so that my question is, are they going to be patented?"
Brazil has established two ways to protect its plant varieties, the first through the law for Cultivar Protection (LCP), based on the UPOV Convention of 1978, which protects the variety up to the seed. The second way is through the patent, which provides protection up to the manufactured product, much stronger than the first. For varieties of the same species, the current legislation allows only protection arising from LCP, so that these new varieties, in spite of their relevance will have a lighter protection.
"I enjoyed your article on the management strategies of a seed company located in the subtropical region of Brazil. One of the issues that caught my interest was the germination loss during storage. Could you comment further on this?"
The Brazilian subtropical environment is characterized by a mean annual temperature above 25°C, during the period when seed is normally stored for about 6 to 8 months. This condition, together with the natural deterioration process, makes germination loss a common feature of storage. To minimize this effect some techniques can be applied, such as harvesting seeds with high moisture and dry or cool them, whenever possible. The case study published in SEED News focused on harvesting with high moisture content and drying, so that soybean seed lots that averaged 90% germination initially would express a germination reduction of only four percentage points after a storage period of six months.
"I work with castor bean germplasm to assess its agronomic value for industrial purposes. I have made progress; however, I am having trouble in producing seed lots of high physiological quality. What could be the factors determining this result and how could I overcome it?"
The physiological quality of seeds is determined by many factors, making seed production a high-tech activity. Castor bean seeds are more sensitive to deterioration than other species, such as soybean, due to genetic traits that favor a rapid deterioration when still in the field. To minimize deterioration, the seeds should be harvested in successive batches according to their maturity and, if possible, they should be cooled. One other way could be for you to identify, among your genotypes, which are able to tolerate field conditions after maturity without an acute loss of physiological quality.
"While going through SEED News' last cover I came across the purity analysis of a seed lot of white clover. Among its components, some weed seeds could be identified as well as sand clods. The inconveniences of weed seeds are obvious; however, I would like to know what the inconveniences of soil or sand clods within seed lots."
When analyzing for purity, small stones and soil clods will be considered as inert materials. The main inconveniences related to their presence are the risk of disease transmission and the economic factor, since the more inert material per unit of weight, the less seeds it contains. Just imagine the cost of transporting soil clods and stones - instead of seeds - for hundreds of kilometers; it will surely skyrocket the cost of seeds. The business is about high quality seed at a sensible price.
"At present, royalties in Brazil are paid to the breeder of a variety that is protected and the technological tax applies to an event that has been dully patented. In relation to the technological tax, and for practical purposes, growers are paying only for the RR soybean to an extent of 100%, since if not dully paid at the time of purchasing the seed, it will at the time of trading the produce. How will all these issues be handled when the times comes for various patented events present in a single variety, which may possibly belong to different companies?"
This situation will most likely arise in the near future, and certainly, some specific mechanism will be devised to allow the technological tax to be collected. It seems that collection through the seed grower would be the most appropriate way, if seed piracy can be minimized. A second way is to continue to charge the technology tax to the produce, so that at the time of trade a penalty fee may be applied that would act as dissuasive to evasion. It is always worth to remember that without investment, progress is slow or unachievable, so that royalties and technology tax collection are essential to breeding progress. Brazil has evolved in many of these issues, having a well defined chain of production with active class associations as well as a modern legal system, which inspires confidence among investors in technology innovations.
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