December,  2001

Report by the USDA’s Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology

I.Preamble
II.Principles
..1.Enhance crop biodiversity.
..2.Balance the public-private plant breeding relationship.
..3.Assure an adequate free flow of knowledge within the research community.
..4.Assure public confidence.
..5.Maintain and enhance technical competency.
..6.Adopt a systems approach.
III.Roles
..1.Capacity.
..2.Education.
..3.Germplasm preservation, characterization, and utilization.
..4.Designated crops.
..5.Environmental protection.

I. Preamble

This report has been prepared by the USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology (ACAB) to help USDA define the principles and roles for public plant breeding programs (PPBPs), including the roles for these programs in appropriate biotechnology applications. For the reasons outlined below, the ACAB is in unanimous agreement that PPBPs must be preserved and enhanced.

Since the advent of hybrid corn in the mid-20th Century, the role of the private sector in plant
breeding has steadily increased while that of the public sector has declined. Currently, the USDA’s
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Land Grant Universities (LGUs), once major developers
of new crop varieties, release relatively few new varieties as compared with the private sector.

The development of new tools of biotechnology, and the means to protect both genes and
methods for genetic modification as intellectual property, has further attracted private-sector
investments in the development of seeds for farmers relative to the public sector. Much of this
new emphasis is on the addition of transgenic (genetically engineered) traits, e.g., resistance
to herbicides and insects, to traditionally bred cultivars and hybrids of U.S. crops.

Despite the broad adoption of privately held transgenic and conventionally bred crop varieties, the public sector retains major responsibilities for several important aspects of plant breeding. These responsibilities include: basic or fundamental discovery research; training of new plant breeders; maintaining germplasm banks; addressing public-good issues such as biodiversity, environmental safety, and a diversity of production and marketing systems; and release of new varieties of crops for which there may be inadequate economic incentives for private sector research and development investments. Private companies also benefit from the availability of new varieties, developed by PPBPs, which are adapted to a wide diversity of local growing conditions and markets.

American agriculture is a diverse enterprise involving a vast array of crops produced in a wide
range of climatic, economic, and cultural environments on widely diverse farms. New niche market opportunities such as for ethnic and organically grown foods are increasing. For many reasons, it is in the nation’s interest to ensure a broad availability of crops and crop varieties for farmers and choices for American consumers.

The ACAB supports a renewed and reinvigorated commitment by USDA to PPBPs of the ARS, and of the LGUs funded through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES). Further, this commitment must involve a balanced and complementary relationship between public and private research efforts. While each sector has unique strengths and inherent limitations, USDA should assure that its public programs are complementary to
private-sector investments in crop variety research and development while avoiding duplicative efforts. To these ends, this document attempts to assist in efforts to meet this challenge by:

• Outlining principles that should serve as  goals for the PPBPs;
• Identifying specific roles of PPBPs; and
• Making specific recommendations for effective implementation of these roles.

II. Principles

The following six principles are set forth as a guide to policymakers in planning the USDA’s future endeavors in support of PPBPs.

1. Enhance crop biodiversity.

Due in part to structural changes in U.S. agriculture, including increased globalization, the number of crops for which improved varieties are bred in public and private plant breeding programs has decreased. The focus increasingly is on improving a small number of crops representing large market opportunities. Consequently, many potentially important minor crops and niche or specialty varieties of major crops are not being developed.

With changing and expanding market opportunities, including the rapidly increasing market for identity-preserved specialty crops, farmers must have the means to produce a wide range of crops and crop varieties adapted to their local climatic conditions and choice of cropping system. PPBPs are needed to develop these varieties, thereby providing farmers opportunities to further diversify and increase their income potential.

At the same time, the world capacity to collect and maintain germplasm for food crops is under
constant resource and/or political constraints. These pressures on agricultural biodiversity have
serious implications. Since world security and stability depend heavily on a reliable food supply, it is essential that domestic and global implications be taken into account in long term planning for public plant breeding activities.

PPBPs could serve a pivotal role in reshaping the economic landscape of American agriculture
through new crop development. During the 200 years since Thomas Jefferson argued the critical
importance of new crops to a strong American agriculture, many potentially profitable new crops
have been introduced, only to languish, their potential benefits unrealized, because public funds necessary for their development were lacking. The 20th Century has continued to witness the introduction and/or development of successful new crops such as soybean, now a major crop of the United States and of the world, avocado and pistachio in California, and pearl millet in the Southeastern States. Regrettably, the United States has not taken a long-term, comprehensive, strategic approach to crop diversification.(1) Only public programs can take on the long-term and higher risk efforts of developing new crops through the initial recognition of potentially valuable products, breeding for farmer and end-user acceptability, providing agronomic assistance to farmers, and establishment of markets.

Public plant breeding policies and priorities should be designed to use all available technologies in order to provide farmers a broad genetic base for existing crops and a wide choice of economically viable crops and agricultural systems. Biotechnology offers the potential to improve breeding efficiency, and to introduce transgenic traits, and there are opportunities for improvement of all crops through traditional breeding methods.

2. Balance the public-private plant breeding relationship.

The public and private sectors each have important roles to play in plant breeding. Private-sector investments generally focus on crops that hold the greatest potential for return on those investments. Public-sector resources are needed for development of crops or crop characteristics with long-term potential that might not be immediately attractive to the private sector. In addition, many of the traditionally bred varieties of agronomic crops to which private companies add their proprietary transgenes are locally- or regionally-adapted varieties developed initially in PPBPs. An
herbicide-resistant variety of soybean, for example, if not adapted to local growing conditions, offers no advantage and could even represent a disadvantage to the grower. PPBPs at LGUs are ideally suited to assuring that varieties available to growers are adapted to local growing conditions and cropping systems.

Strong PPBPs are also needed for more basic research, especially research of a nature considered too high-risk for investments by the private sector. Even in cases of public-private
collaborations in discovery research and technology development, a relationship that is both productive and protects the public good depends on the mutual strengths of both sectors. There is a risk that under-funded public-sector programs that depend disproportionately on the private sector for funding may adopt the private sector’s research priorities, again neglecting projects uniquely suitable for the public sector.

Once the private sector has adopted a PPBPs-derived technology, public resources should be diverted to other discovery research to avoid duplicative efforts.

3. Assure an adequate free flow of knowledge within the research community.

The increased use of intellectual property rights (IPR), although essential for the protection and
encouragement of research investments, has, in agricultural biotechnology as in other areas,
tended to inhibit the free flow of information within the research community. There is an obvious need to strike a balance between the private incentives and public access to the fruits of publicly funded research. Although there are exceptions, with publicly funded research, scientists need not compromise open exchange of information to secure funds for research, and the new knowledge can be made equally available to all members of the private sector without favoring one company over another. The public sector tradition of providing free and equal access to knowledge and germplasm to all segments of the plant breeding community, public and private, should not be compromised.

4. Assure public confidence.

PPBPs contribute to various USDA regulatory functions and provide unbiased evaluation of new
varieties of crops and their end-use products. In this role, both PPBPs and variety-testing
programs under CSREES are critical for maintaining the confidence of a broad base of
stakeholders in new crops and new traits added to familiar crops. By fulfilling their mandate to
serve a broadly-inclusive group of farmers, crops, cropping systems, environmental concerns, the
farm-input industry, and consumers, PPBPs can continue help assure public confidence in crops
grown for food and other products, and the systems used to produce these crops.

5. Maintain and enhance technical competency.

Maintaining U.S. technical competency in plant breeding requires maintaining and staffing
programs with individuals who have a broad range of skills and understanding of: plant biology, physiology, and genetics; the response of plants to environmental stresses, pests, and diseases; end-use quality characters for marketability; and the needs of farmers, processors and consumers. Much of this ‘technical competency’ includes the art of growing plants in the field and having the ability to distinguish and select those unique plant types that combine the many desired traits for
use as a new variety.

Today, and as part of the ‘biological revolution,’ plant breeders must have the technical competency to make timely and appropriate use of the rapid advances in knowledge and understanding of plant and microbial genomics and gene function. The recent advances in plant
genomics, in particular the complete sequence of the genome of the seed plant Arabidopsis
thaliana and the nearly complete sequence of the rice genome, provide valuable new insights
and approaches to more targeted, accelerated, and efficient development of new varieties of all
crop plants. The advances in microbial genomics, especially genomics of microbial pathogens,
provide breeders with the information needed to breed crops with more durable/sustainable host
plant resistance to pests and plant diseases. Collectively, these and other recent advances of
biotechnology offer many different ways to accelerate plant breeding, including traditional breeding, through the use of molecular markers, genetic maps, and doubled haploids.

Taking full advantage of this new knowledge and understanding in genomics and gene function
while maintaining competency in the science and art of plant breeding will allow public sector
plant breeders to provide greater choices in crops and crop varieties adapted to different cropping
systems and thereby better serve farmers and society while protecting the environment and
natural resource base. Programs designed to incorporate the latest scientific and technical
advances are also more likely to attract and provide training for those interested in careers of
public service through agricultural science and technology.

6. Adopt a systems approach.

PPBPs are also critical to the development of crops adapted to different specialty and emergent cropping systems, as well as more traditional cropping systems, including no-till, organic, and multiple-function cropping systems. Such targeted crop development typically requires teams of scientists from different disciplines who understand the unique aspects of the cropping systems. It is important to develop varieties well adapted to particular systems, using a "variety x management" approach, taking into consideration diverse crops and crop rotations suited to different climates and production or marketing systems. The public sector can provide leadership in systems-based public-private cooperation and collaboration. Indeed, the private sector depends on the public sector for this scientific leadership, especially where variety development and testing must meet yield and end-use quality objectives, and other objectives such as enhancement of wildlife habitat, minimization of pesticide use, and increased carbon sequestration in the soil. Such
research offers support for all cropping systems, including organic farming for which USDA has
recently set production standards.

III. Roles

In order to achieve the principles and/or goals laid out above, a variety of roles must be played
by PPBPs in the future. This section identifies essential roles and makes specific recommendations to ensure those roles are effectively carried out.

1. Capacity.

A recent report from Iowa State University found that over the 5-year period 1990-1994, PPBPs in
the United States lost 12.5 scientist-years while private sector plant breeding programs grew by
160 scientist-years (Special Report 96, National Plant Breeding Study-I, Iowa State University
and Home Economics Experiment Station, 1996). In addition, plant breeding programs, public and
private combined, are concentrating increasingly on a limited number of major crops. For example,
the Iowa State University report found that 25% of all plant breeding in the United States is
devoted to corn, and that another 20% are devoted collectively to soybeans, cotton, and wheat. Meanwhile, many minor and new crops that could help diversify rotations are neglected.

The decline in capacity of PPBPs seriously limits their ability to: a) make use of the rapidly expanding knowledge of plant and microbial genetic resources; and b) fulfill their roles of developing crops or varieties of crops not likely to attract private investments. The overall private-sector trend toward concentration of plant breeding programs on the major crops seems unlikely to change. Clearly, the priority-setting process for public-sector investments must also take market needs and opportunities into account, but in many cases these needs or opportunities will not become apparent until the research and development program is well advanced, at which time the new crop can be expected to attract more private-sector investment.

Central Recommendation: USDA should set a goal to at least double the U.S. capacity in public
plant breeding over the next 5 years. The Committee strongly believes that substantial increases in capacity will be critical if USDA is to meet the complex needs of American farmers and help fulfill the U.S. commitment to world food security.

Recommendation: USDA should sponsor/host a workshop that examines the nation’s public plant
breeding capacity relative to national needs and builds on the National Plant Breeding Study
reports. This workshop should include an examination of why human and financial resources for PPBPs have both declined and become more concentrated over the past 10-15 years, and develop an action plan to assure that these trends are reversed.

2. Education.

Over the past decade, new hires in LGU and ARS laboratories have been scientists trained in
modern molecular biology and genomics but often lacking in basic knowledge of concepts of
applied genetics and classical plant breeding. Some farmers and private seed companies fear
erosion in the training of classical plant breeders. Such erosion in human capital can only further reduce the pool of university graduates trained in classical plant breeding. Without an appropriate mix of plant breeding skills, the public and private sectors may face constraints in their ability to conduct field trials and carry out classical breeding programs. Moreover, to the extent that varieties produced by the private sector increasingly carry transgenic traits, farmers targeting markets for plant products without these traits may correspondingly rely increasingly on PPBPs for their new varieties.

Recommendation: USDA should increase public funding and provide other incentives for LGUs to
maintain progressive training and research programs for undergraduate and graduate students on the tools and concepts of classical plant breeding. Such training programs for plant breeders should be sensitive to the needs of both the private and public sector job markets.

3. Germplasm preservation, characterization, and utilization.

a. Germplasm and genetic resource preservation: The U.S. National Plant Germplasm System,
managed by the ARS, has more than 400,000 accessions representing over 10,000 species.
Genetic diversity that would otherwise be lost is preserved and freely distributed, thereby broadening the gene pools available to plant breeders and other researchers, public and private. Biotechnologists are developing large-scale methods to scan genomes and target specific genes in these germplasm collections. Previously, plant breeders typically requested just a few seed samples from the U.S. germplasm collections, but now hundreds of accessions can be and are requested. Moreover, National Science Foundation-funded and other publicly funded plant genome programs are generating thousands of new genetic variants that need to be preserved. The genome programs are also generating vast amounts of DNA sequence and genome characterization data that need to be added to the plant genome databases. The USDA needs increased funding to
preserve agriculturally important germplasm collections, genetic resources, and genomic data.

Recommendation: USDA should increase financial and personnel support for the preservation of germplasm collections, including the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, and continue efforts to ensure genetic resources are widely available for use.

b. Germplasm characterization—exploiting the diversity in the U.S. germplasm collections: The
rich source of genetic diversity in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System needs to be
better utilized. Genetic diversity is critical for agricultural commodities to prevent catastrophic
losses from weather damage and pests, to ensure long-term profitability, and to address
societal needs. The germplasm collections contain plants with improved nutritional value as
food or feed, that thrive on minimal amounts of water, and that have many other desired traits.
Biotechnology and new genomic discoveries are greatly expanding the ability of plant breeders to
identify and transfer these traits from the raw germplasm collections into new varieties. The genes for these traits can be introduced into improved plant varieties by marker-assisted selection using conventional breeding methods, or by genetic engineering. PPBPs will have a leading role in discovering genes for new traits. Valuable contributions can be made in identifying genes for the public good and in enhancing all U.S. crops.

Recommendation: USDA should encourage increased public and private sector exploitation
of the rich sources of genetic diversity in the U.S. germplasm collections.

c. Access and utilization of germplasm: PPBPs have historically depended on broad exchange of
plant germplasm and cooperative scientific effort. Advanced lines from private and public programs are evaluated by the public sector in regional cooperative nurseries for disease resistance, weather tolerance, agronomic traits, and end-product quality. In addition, research results from public-sector programs, including DNA sequences and chromosome marker analysis, are published and made available to other researchers. This cooperation has insured that any new variety released by either the public or private sector has the best possible genetic resistance to disease and weather
damage, and excellent quality and agronomic traits.

Agricultural biotechnology is significantly advancing genetic improvements for crops, but access by public plant breeders to new discoveries and improved germplasm can be hindered by IPR restrictions. Relationships between private industry and PPBPs must respect the discoverer’s IPR while at the same time improving access by public sector plant breeders to new scientific discoveries and improved germplasm.

Many potentially useful varieties within the germplasm collections have not been evaluated owing to financial or personnel constraints. Further, incorporation of new germplasm into plant breeding programs is generally a long term effort, and there has been insufficient support for the overall development process for new varieties.

Recommendation: USDA should increase efforts to ensure that public plant breeders have access
to the best science and germplasm. In particular, the following need to be promoted:
1) appropriate access of public plant breeders to newly discovered genes and improved germplasm
(transgenic or non-transgenic);
2) productive partnerships with private industry that enable public plant breeders to use proprietary material, if that is the best source of new, improved genes;
3) testing and evaluation of both public and private advanced lines in regional testing programs for disease resistance, quality, and other characteristics; and
4) continued involvement in multilateral negotiations to facilitate broad access to a wide spectrum of plant genetic resources.

Recommendation: USDA should establish an incentive program for farmers and farmer associations to participate in testing, selection, seed increase, and evaluation of plant varieties
now housed in germplasm repositories. USDA should also ensure adequate long term funding
mechanisms for plant breeders to develop publicly held varieties.

4. Designated crops.

PPBPs historically have identified and prioritized crops considering their economical and biological
importance to a local or regional clientele. Engaging a broader range of stakeholders in this prioritization process will assist in building and maintaining support for the programs.

The prioritization and designation of crops for the attention of PPBPs should be consistent with
other agricultural policy goals, such as support for small farms and rural development, and the
creation of value-added crops designed to address other policy goals such as development of biobased energy, improving human nutrition, and resource conservation. Procedures for prioritizing and designating crops and research should include input from stakeholders and take into account the realities of markets. Continued attention must be given to how the PPBPs will address IPR associated with their products.

Recommendation: USDA should develop a prioritization mechanism to target the public sector development of new crops and crop varieties that address a diversity of economic and biological needs of the U.S. food and agriculture system, so that U.S. agriculture can effectively respond to these needs and expand market opportunities.

5. Environmental protection.

A potentially new role for PPBPs is as part of programs directed toward addressing major environmental problems that have complex origins and will demand careful solutions. PPBPs
can help develop solutions to various environmental problems such as water, air, and soil quality. Crops can be bred to meet both yield objectives and environmental goals. Both private and PPBPs need to be involved to help the U.S. make progress toward solving these complex problems. PPBPs have the freedom to take a long-term perspective because they are less constrained by short-term commercial priorities.

The solutions for these broad environmental problems must be developed within a broad systems-based context, and they must be acceptable to producers, other segments of the value chain, and to society more generally. Considerable effort will be required to frame environmental stewardship issues to take maximum advantage of what plant breeding can offer. Furthermore, broadening the goals of PPBPs to include new challenges could attract a broader constituency of support for publicly funded agricultural research.

Recommendation: USDA should sponsor a series of workshops with stakeholders including plant
breeders, ecologists, farmers, and citizens to generate and discuss a plant breeding research
agenda targeted toward new tools for environmental stewardship. Furthermore, a
request for proposals by the National Research Initiative and other competitive programs should
include newly identified environmental stewardship plant breeding research targets.

USDA release
N4047