Why new varieties of plants are protected
Protection is afforded to new varieties of plants both as an incentive to the development of agriculture, horticulture and forestry and to safeguard the interests of plant breeders. Improved varieties are a necessary, and very cost-effective, element in the quantitative and qualitative improvement of the production of food, renewable energy and raw material.
Breeding new varieties of plants requires a substantial investment in terms of skill, labor, material resources, money and time. The opportunity to obtain certain exclusive rights in respect of his new variety provides the successful plant breeder with a better chance of recovering his costs and accumulating the funds necessary for further investment. In the absence of plant breeders’ rights, those aims are more difficult to achieve since there is nothing to prevent others from multiplying the breeder’s seed or other propagating material and selling the variety on a commercial scale, without recognizing in any way the work of the breeder.