Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI)
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A Pledge That Promises To Keep Seeds Free For All To Use
...Inspired by the concept of open source software, a group of plant scientists and food activists, led by the University of Wisconsin, have launched the Open Source Seed Initiative – a campaign to protect the right of farmers, plant breeders and gardeners to share seeds freely...
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Free The Seed: OSSI Nurtures Growing Plants Without Patent Barriers
[The Open Source Seed Initiative] is concerned over restricting access to seeds through patents. They are stirring up public awareness over their mission to model a new crop system of seed-sharing in the spirit of open source software. On Thursday the OSSI group gathered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to give away a set of seeds that can be used by anyone. Read More »
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Novel Open Source Seed Pledge Aims To Keep New Vegetable And Grain Varieties Free For All
This week, scientists, farmers and sustainable food systems advocates will gather on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to celebrate an unusual group of honored guests: 29 new varieties of broccoli, celery, kale, quinoa and other vegetables and grains that are being publicly released using a novel form of ownership agreement known as the Open Source Seed Pledge. Read More »
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Now Available: 29 Flavors Of Open Source Seeds, Sans Patents
There’s been an argument going on for at least 100 years over seeds. Should they be free? Or should the people who develop them control, and profit from, their use? If they were shared, we’d have a more fluid development of agricultural technology [...] On the other hand, maybe breeders wouldn’t want to engage in the hard work of experimenting if they couldn’t sell their inventions for lots of money. Read More »
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Open Source Comes To Farms With Restriction-Free Seeds
There are now 29 kinds of plant varieties that are available under an open source license, reports NPR. On Thursday, a group of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison debuted the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI), a set of seeds that can be used by anyone so long as they don't restrict use by others through patents or IP protection. Read More »
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Open Source Seed — The Past Meets the Future
Not long ago, all seed was in the public domain. If you bought seeds, you owned them outright. No longer. While there have been steady improvements in yields and shipping qualities in many crops since those “good old days,” there have been losses, too. The biggest loss may be in the package of rights farmers purchase along with the seed. In recent decades the balance between the power of seed companies and the rights of those who grow out the seeds has shifted sharply against the grower...
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Open Source Seeds: An Agro-Giant Alternative
A group of University of Wisconsin scientists have made 29 different seed varieties available for anyone who promises not to patent them. Read More »
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Open-Source Agriculture: The Sprouting Of A New Food Movement?
Walk through the produce aisle today and you can find labels for organic, fair trade, and local items. For shoppers who oppose the practices of seed agri-giants like Monsanto, one day there may be a new option to consider: open-source. Read More »
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Open-Source Seeds Challenge Monsanto, Support International Day Of Farmers' Struggles
Tomorrow, Thursday, April 17, the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) will release over 29 seed varieties into the global commons and humanity's “moral economy.” This new initiative hopes to provide a counterweight to private patenting of seeds, which has undermined farmers’ rights around the world. Read More »
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Seeds Of Rebellion
Vermont becomes a hotbed of resistance to high-tech agribiz.
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The Open-Source Seed Movement In Wisconsin
Farmers have traditionally gathered and saved seeds from one growing season to plant in the next. But this age-old tradition is being threatened by corporations that are increasingly restricting access to seeds through patents. Read More »
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‘Open-Source’ Seeds Released to Nurture Patent-Free Food
An ‘open-source’ seed initiative has released 36 varieties of 14 food crops, which the project’s leaders say could help poor farmers get access to better quality seeds. The new seed varieties have been available for delivery globally from mid-May, says Irwin Goldman, a vegetable breeder and horticulturalist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was involved in the release. Read More »
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