International Webinar on Post PVP Control Measures

By |2021-04-19T07:38:32+00:00April 19th, 2021|0 Comments

The international webinar on verification of the maintenance of protected varieties (Post PVP Control Measures) was successfully conducted on April 8th, 2021 in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GOI, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority (PPVFRA), New Delhi, the Federal Plant Variety Office of Germany (BSA) and the German Plant Breeders’ Association (BDP) in the frame of the Indo-German Co-operation Project on Seed Sector Development. The aim of this webinar was to exchange experiences & views between experts of India and Germany on various aspects involved in post Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Control Measures.

PVP involves the protection of breeders’ rights granted by the competent Authority. After granting PVP it is very crucial to ensure that the protected variety remains uniform and stable. Therefore, the breeder must carry out systematic maintenance breeding. In addition, competent Authorities are obliged to control & verify that the seed lots of a protected plant variety fulfils continuous the necessary requirements in accordance with the variety description.

More than 200 Officials from Seed Department of DAC&FW, MOA, GOI, Staff of PPV&FRA, Officials of DUS centres and Officials of State Department of Agriculture, National Seed Corporation, State Seed Corporation, Private Seed Industry associations (NSAI & FSII), ICAR institutes, SAU’s etc. have participated at the webinar.

The webinar was opened with welcome remarks of:

  • Shri Ashwani Kumar, Joint Secretary (Seeds), DAC&FW, GOI;
  • Dr K. Vinod Prabhu, Chairperson, PPV&FRA, New Delhi; and
  • Elmar Pfuelb, President of Federal Plant Variety Office of Germany (BSA).

The following topics have been covered:

  • Overview of the system of PVP Post Control Measures in India and the role of PPV&FRA and other actors (Dr T. K. Nagarathna, Registrar at PPV&FRA);
  • Overview of the system of PVP Post Control Measures in Germany/EU and the role of BSA and other actors (Friedhilde Trautwein, BSA);
  • Activities of BSA to combine reference collection, similar varieties in DUS testing, post control of seed lots and PVP post control activities (Friedhilde Trautwein, BSA);
  • Duties of public designated regional Authorities responsible for seed certification, market control, seed quality testing etc. on post control of certified seed in collaboration with BSA in Germany (Henning Brogmus, Head of Seed Certification & Seed Market Control at Designated Authority of German State Schleswig-Holstein);
  • Responsibilities of the PVP owner after PVP grant and registration to the National List (Dr Elmar Weissmann, plant breeder in Germany);
  • Enforcement of Plant Breeders’ Rights in Germany (Dieter Ruecker, BDP).

In addition, Mr Ekkehard Schroeder (German Team Leader), Dr Sowmini Sunkara & Dr Raghavendra Kavali (National Project Coordinators, Indo- German Cooperation on Seed sector project) also participated and supported the organization of the webinar.

The project is part of the bilateral cooperation programme of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and implemented by the consortium of ADT Project Consulting GmbH (ADT) and German Plant Breeders’ Association (BDP).