Politics of Seeds: Common Resource or a Private Property

A nation’s agriculture is as strong as its seed system. Seeds store the keys to bio-diversity and resilience to climate change, are repositories of cultural knowledge, reflect historical breeding practices, and symbolise food security. This report, published by Focus on the Global South, India, discusses the World Bank’s role in the Indian seed sector; the transformation of seeds (from traditional to genetically modified); patents on seeds; seed-related legislation in India; and seed conservation and exchange.  In the introduction, author Afsar Jafri says that seeds were traditionally the collective property of farmers. In the last few decades, however, with industrial agriculture and the green revolution, they are becoming the private property of transnational corporations. Moreover, international agreements, such as the Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties and others overseen by the World Trade Organization, are pushing states to grant intellectual property rights over seeds and related technologies to corporations.  Besides this, global and national mergers and acquisitions have led to the consolidation of transnational corporations. These entities can influence how most of the world’s crops are grown, affecting their prices...