Canada's
Seed Sector Review was designed to bring people together to
resolve long outstanding issues in seed regulation. As it
started out – full of potential – who knew it would become a
lightening rod for detractors of the industry?
Yet that’s just what happened. Starting in
October 2004, articles appeared criticizing the Review. It was
the beginning of a concerted campaign against the findings of
the Review which quickly focused on Plant Breeders’ Rights
(PBR). Now it has grown to include seed quality, pricing, and
replanting.
While the Seed Sector Review may have been the
lightening rod, clearly there are other underlying issues.
Trenton Baisley of FarmPure Seeds captures the concerns. “The
seed industry has lost a positive relationship with farmers and
farm organizations,” he notes. “We have to explain the role of
innovation and the value of quality seed to our customers long
before we can address any systemic problems in supplying new
varieties to Canadian farmers.”
It seems evident the seed industry as a whole was
caught off guard by the growing apathy among farmers to
certified seed and, worse, growing antagonism in some instances.
The seed sector has always felt it is more closely aligned to
its farmer-customers than other ag suppliers. The very reality
of seed production makes the seed sector subject to the same
vagaries of weather and pests as farmers themselves. There is
also the industry’s passionate belief in plant breeding’s role
in assuring the success of farmers, helping them to produce
healthier, robust crops and better serve markets for food, feed,
and fibre.
Some of these impressions may still resonate with
some of the ag community, but it is clear they don’t with
others. Canada's National Farmers
Union (NFU) was very effective in launching criticisms of
the seed industry. Here are a few of its comments:
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“The Seed Sector Review is part of an attempt
to construct a financial base for a high-cost, inefficient,
and unproductive model of private plant breeding and
research.”
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“Our seeds are created by farmers, not by
Monsanto.”
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“They want to force you to pay every time you
save and re-use your own seed on your own farm.”
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“Myth: private sector breeding will deliver.”
Members of the seed industry may have been aware
that such criticisms exist from certain groups. What may have
taken the sector by surprise was the energy poured into sharing
these messages. The NFU had success with its “Save our Seeds”
campaign at meetings across the country, capturing media
attention and getting signatures against PBR. This kind of
grassroots, labour-intensive process unfolded nationally and the
seed industry was not prepared.
As one colourful seed industry person said, “If
we don’t speak up, we’re going to get creamed!”
To prevent that from happening,
Germination magazine
has created “Sharing the Message”, a program to equip the seed
sector with tools to talk about the role quality seed plays. It
includes:
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Fact sheets on the role of plant breeding,
the value of certified seed, and key issues in the seed
business
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Useful messages to incorporate into
retailers’ sales materials
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On-line tools, including customer surveys
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Ideas for community relations events
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Complete kits with information on seed and a
useful CD-ROM
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Special information sessions across the
country
Please visit
http://www.germination.ca to
learn more.
Robynne Anderson can be reached at
robynne@issuesink.com. |