North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david.maxwell@dal.ca]

My official did indeed cite the International Treaty as justification for his position.  I have responded to him that this very treaty mandates provision of germplasm to the amateur group, (at least if it is not available commercially),  insofar as the wording is:

 " The Treaty aims at:

# recognizing the enormous contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the world;

# establishing a global system to provide farmers,(my emphasis), plant breeders and scientists with access to plant genetic materials;

He has not responded as yet.  Unfortunately I am not sure the background in our case is as simple as a bureaucratic interpretation of the wording of a treaty, and I am not sure that rational argument is going to carry any weight.  Interestingly the Canadian authorities required that I sign a Standard Material Transfer Agreement, but seemed to regard this as nothing more than a bureaucratic formality, rather than a real obstacle.

>

> Concerning David's encounter with officialdom, I regret to inform him that the situation is similar

> here in the UK.

> My take on is that it stems from a desire to raise monies, akin to plant breeders rights, to fund

> projects. Their take is that it is a result of supporting "the International Treaty on Plant Genetic

> Resources for Food and Agriculture" ( details being found at http://www.planttreaty.org ) resulting

> in the establishment of a piece of legalese the Standard Material Transfer Agreement.

> I have been in the process of developing a 300 apple cultivar collection which was to be grown at

> three sites, three trees being grafted from one piece of graftwood, in order to remove scion wood

> variation. At the moment the project is stalled as I am not able to sign up to the long list of

> conditions.

> As the collections, here in the UK, and I am sure in many other parts of the world, are government

> funded, it does seem a shame that they have found a way to stop amateur growers propagating

> trees and going on to breed new cultivars. Especially considering that many heritage cultivars

> are either chance seedlings or the result of keen amateurs breeding efforts.

> My hopes are that this is a new programme and the authorities are feeling their way through it. My

> hope is that common sense will prevail. Or is that just a pipe dream?

> Clifford Cain

> Doncaster, UK

> Where pears are starting to break bud

>