http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2 ... _3244.html
Distressing ...
For farmers, sowing his own crop will be banned or taxed
In the field of agriculture, the free and free use of seeds will soon be nothing more than a sweet memory recalling peasant methods from another time. Nicknamed "farm seeds", these seeds were previously selected by farmers from their own crops and replanted the following year.
For several decades, these practices were no longer taken for granted when these seeds were protected by a Plant Variety Certificate (VOC) - namely the property rights of the "breeders" of the species. Resowing these seeds was theoretically prohibited. But this use remained, in fact, widely tolerated in France. It is now strictly regulated by a UMP law bill passed Monday November November by Parliament.
"Of the approximately 5 varieties of plants cultivated in commerce, 000 are protected by a VOC. These represent 1% of the varieties cultivated by farmers," explains Delphine Guey, of the National Interprofessional Seed Group (GNIS). However, about half of the cereals grown have so far been reseeded by farmers, according to the CNDSF (National Coordination for the Defense of Farm Seeds). Almost always illegally, then. But the time for "legal uncertainty" seems over: for the Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Le Maire, these seeds "cannot be free of rights, as they are today".
* What changes
In fact, the law proposal of UMP Senator Christian Demuynck transposes a European regulation of 1994 on the protection of plant varieties, so far not in force in France. Consequence: farm seeds, so far tolerated, are now legalized ... on condition of paying "remuneration to the holders of VOCs" - namely to seed companies -, "so that the funding of research efforts is continued and that genetic resources continue to be improved, ”the law says. Small farmers producing less than 92 tonnes of grain are exempt.
Since 2001, this tax has been applied for a single species: common wheat. Called "compulsory voluntary contribution", it is pocketed by the inter-profession of seed companies. The farmer has to pay 50 cents per tonne of wheat when his crop is delivered. This system should therefore be extended to 21 species, the list of which remains open, assures Xavier Beulin, president of the FNSEA (National Federation of Farmers' Unions), on the union's website.
In short, for Guy Kastler, general delegate of the Semences paysannes network and member of the Confédération paysanne, "for half of the cultivated species - soybeans, fruits, vegetables, etc. - it is forbidden to reuse your own seeds, and for the other half - cereals and fodder plants - you have to pay to reseed. "
* Towards privatization of seeds?
Several environmental and peasant associations fear an increased control of the seed sector on access to seeds, via an extended property right to crops and the seeds that result from them. With the tax, "even farmers who do without commercial seeds have to pay for these seeds", deplores Guy Kastler. The activist fears that the share of farm seeds will shrink, as they become more expensive and therefore less interesting for the farmer. Between this tax and the ban on reseeding his own seeds, the farmer is increasingly encouraged, no longer to produce, but to buy his seeds. Hence the fear of increased dependence on seed companies.
But from Xavier Beulin's point of view, everyone's contribution to research on cultivated species is justified, insofar as even farm seeds generally come from it. Drawing a parallel with the Hadopi law aimed at "protecting the creators" of films and music, the president of the FNSEA considers that it is "normal that [those who use farm seeds] also participate in the financing of the creation of varieties, since they benefit from it ". Opposed to this argument, the Rural Coordination union notes on its site that Xavier Beulin is not only at the head of the first agricultural union. He also heads the Sofiprotéol group, "which owns stakes in several large French seed groups (Euralis Semences, Limagrain, etc.)".
* Towards a loss of biodiversity?
Another fear: the impact of this measure on agricultural diversity. Of course, reseeding the same variety - almost always the result of research - does not, a priori, increase biodiversity. Especially since "for field crops, no variety used is the result of ancestral conservation; all have been developed thanks to the creation of varieties", underlines Xavier Beulin.
However, reseeding your harvest can lead to variations in the species, and therefore promote this biodiversity, nuance Guy Kastler. "New traits appear, allowing the plant to be better adapted to the soil, climate and local conditions. It is then possible to reduce fertilizers and pesticides. Conversely, seed companies adapt plants to fertilizers and pesticides, which are the same everywhere. " Rather, they tend to create uniformity in plants, wherever they are grown.
* Towards the patent regime?
VOC is, in France, an alternative to the patent on living, in force in the United States for example. This intellectual property right is held by companies that have obtained, through research, cultivated species, and thus enjoy the monopoly of the sale of seeds of this species before it falls into the public domain - as it is the case of about 450 of them in France. Some, like Guy Kastler, fear a shift to this patent regime, limiting the right of farmers to freely use protected seeds.
However, unlike the VOC, the patent completely prohibits farmers from reseeding their harvest, compensation or not, notes Delphine Guey. This is the case of GMO varieties from the American firm Monsanto which, according to Marie-Monique Robin in the documentary Le Monde according to Monsanto, even created a sort of "seed police" specializing in tracking down farmers who illegally sow or trade seeds. seeds they collect.
Another difference with the patent is that VOCs allow breeders to freely use a protected variety to use their genetic resources and to select new ones. Thus, working on a gene of a species does not allow to patent and therefore to fully appropriate. A distinction which, according to Delphine Guey, has made it possible to preserve a diversity of French seed companies. And therefore to give farmers a wider choice of species at their disposal. However, if the patent of living species is not used in France, the patenting of plant genes is there, more and more practiced.
Angela Bolis
