plant breeders

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A Pledge That Promises To Keep Seeds Free For All To Use

Zoe Loftus-Farren | Earth Island Journal | July 22, 2014

...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

Nancy Owano | Phys.org | April 19, 2014

[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 »

How "Open Source" Seed Producers from the U.S. to India Are Changing Global Food Production

Rachel Cernansky | Ensia | December 12, 2016

Frank Morton has been breeding lettuce since the 1980s. His company offers 114 varieties, among them Outredgeous, which last year became the first plant that NASA astronauts grew and ate in space. For nearly 20 years, Morton’s work was limited only by his imagination and by how many different kinds of lettuce he could get his hands on. But in the early 2000s, he started noticing more and more lettuces were patented, meaning he would not be able to use them for breeding...

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Novel Open Source Seed Pledge Aims To Keep New Vegetable And Grain Varieties Free For All

Nicole Miller | University of Wisconsin-Madison News | April 15, 2014

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 »

Now Available: 29 Flavors Of Open Source Seeds, Sans Patents

Nathanael Johnson | Grist | April 19, 2014

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 »

Open Source Comes To Farms With Restriction-Free Seeds

Casey Johnston | Ars Technica | April 17, 2014

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 »

Open Source Seeds: An Agro-Giant Alternative

Gail Sullivan | Washington Post | April 18, 2014

A group of University of Wisconsin scientists have made 29 different seed varieties available for anyone who promises not to patent them. Read More »

Open-Source Seeds Challenge Monsanto, Support International Day Of Farmers' Struggles

M. Jahi Chappell | Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy | April 16, 2014

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 »

The Open-Source Seed Movement In Wisconsin

Mary Sussman | Isthmus | February 20, 2014

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 »