AIMING at protecting rights of plant breeders under intellectual property rights, the federal government plans to legislate plant breeders rights (PBR).

Media reports state that the PBR bill is likely to be tabled in the National Assembly soon. Plant breeders rights are specific type of intellectual property rights granted to the breeders of new varieties of plants.

In any industry, intellectual property rights are the cornerstone for innovation and progress. Protecting intellectual property enables innovation by ensuring inventors are rewarded for their investments and encourages continued research and development of new technologies and products that benefit farmers, consumers and environment.

There is a dire need for introducing legislation for plant breeders rights because at present there is no act or law to protect research and development that goes into seed production.

Pakistan needs a professional seed industry where there are pre-set criteria for a seed company, where there is investment in research and development, standards for seed quality, respect for intellectual property and the enforcement of laws is effective and across the board.

The PBR bill, if passed by parliament, will pave the way for development of the much-needed professional seed industry in the country which, in turn, will ensure the availability of high quality seeds and planting material to farmers.

Most importantly, it will promote research and development in the field of agriculture and attract private-sector companies, especially multinationals, to invest in the agriculture sector that will give technology-hungry Pakistani farmers access to the world’s latest agricultural technologies.

Pakistan’s agriculture and farmers have suffered at the hands of the fake seed mafia in the last few years. No one can deny the fact that Pakistan has not been able to tap the true potential of the agriculture sector and lags behind the world.

Yasir Javed Bhatti

Lahore

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014