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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-07-14, Page 8SHARP 20" PORTABLE PRICED FROM ONLY $499 • 20" COLOR PORTABLE FOR SHARP,CLEAR VIEWING Sharp brings you all the features that make it easy for you to enjoy watching television. The new solid state color chassis is designed to work better, last longer and need fewer repairs. Microcircuitry brings color television to its newest levels of performance and relia- bility. Combine these features with the Linytron Plus Picture Tube and with our many other features and you'll be set for years of true-to-life viewing. WHITING'S • Warehouse Furniture and Appliances Unlimited (New & Used) • Antiques & Things Main St. 235-1964 DON'T FORGET ABOUT EXETER'S GREAT FRIDAY & SATURDAY, • JULY 22 lit 23 BE SURE TO BE IN EXETER & GET IN ON ALL THE FUN AND SAVINGS BARGAINS IN EVERY STORE FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY WATCH NEXT WEEK'S TIMES—ADVOCATE FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. "Sponsored By The Exeter Central Improvement Association" Would like more research money Page 8 Times-Advocate, July 14, 1977 Whelan speaks at Stewarts' Legislation proposed to protect Canadian plant breeders place, Right now, countries that much as one nickel going back to have that kind of protective those originating countries by legislation in place aren't too way of a return. keen when it comes to letting their new varieties into Canada. At the moment, you know, a rot Why should they be? There's of countries have a Rights law nothing that stops their work which protects the breeder, from being pirated, with not so Canada doesn't have anything, I "CLIP & SAVE' Canada's Minister of Agriculture Eugene Whelan was the guest speaker at Friday's Media Day at Stewart Seeds at Ailsa Craig and he talked about the proposed Plant Breeders Rights legislation, Whelan told the close to 100 representatives from newspapers, radio and television that Plant Breeders Rights is a fancy title for a bundle of proposed regulations and legislation that will give plant breeders the sort of protection that inventors get when they ,apply for a patent, He continued, "Because we have so little protective :legislation in this country, other ;countries which already have very stringent regulations when it comes to exporting new plant !breeds have real hang-ups when pit comes to dealing with Canada, Any Tom, Dick or Harry can :buy a new type, breed from it, and then sell that product as his, ,or her, own variety. It's a kind of pirating, of course, but there's ,nothing to prevent it. • The basic idea behind any Proposed legislation protecting 'the work of a plant breeder, is to give recognition to the breeder Tor the work he's done in breeding and introducing a new plant variety. Right now inventors patent their gimmicks, and writers get paid for their publications. Plant breeders, even though they're pretty much in the same category, do not benefit financially from the work they do, nor are they protected from having their product pirated, And, believe me, plant breeders have every right to get some financial return for the work they do, It's not cheap to produce new varieties. New strains come on the market only as the result of long and often expensive research. Before they're actually released onto the market, they've undergone about four years of rigorous testing. If you want to make a million in a hurry, don't think that plant breeding is the way to do it. And yet Canadian plant breeders have forged ahead. Their efforts have contributed a great deal to the success of Canadian agriculture today. I'd like to see them get some return for their efforts, and I'd like to know that they've got the protection they need. Because of the work done by Canadian plant breeders, the West really opened up at the beginning of this century. Back in 1904 Marquis Wheat came on to the market. That particular variety was such a good per- former that it's still used as a standard of quality today. Before Conquest barley came along, farmers never knew from one year to the next how their crop would turn out. Conquest took the worry out of that problem. Farmers got the strong straw and high, dependable yields they were looking for. Work like that, years of just slugging away by what a lot of people call the "silent minority" - the plant breeders - has gone to make Canada's reputation as a world leader when it comes to grains. When the Russians try to breed high quality wheat, for example, they use our Canadian varieties in their crosses to give them the strength and depen- dability they're looking for. Well that silent minority isn't quite as silent as it used to be, They're asking for all sorts of things. One thing is more money for research, The people at Ciba- Geigy know a little about that, They get the odd Government dollar or two through the grants from the National Research Council, The NRC and my Department, Agriculture Canada, enjoy a very close relationship when it comes to research and its funding. Many of the grants which go out carrying the NRC label have been recommended, in the first place, by my Department, But then, Ciba-Geigy really should be congratulated. It has kept its reputation of openness and cooperation so far as the government is concerned, and it has been a leader in the field, not just with research, but in en- couraging that same spirit of cooperation and openness with other companies, Sure, I'd like to have a lot more money to invest in research. But like everybody else these days, I have to stick to my budget. There's no question that I'd like to see private enterprise given a real boost and encouraged to invest in research. Maybe they could come up collectively with a parallel program to the one that's mounted by my Department. The work done by Agriculture Canada's Research Branch is of benefit to almost every plant breeder in Canada, During the last five years, my Department licensed 54 new varieties of 24 different crops which had been bred, tested and put on the market by Research Branch scientists, In addition to that, CDA released many of the inbred lines which corn com- panies use for producing new corn hybrids. Well, there's one very good reason. This world is getting short of growing space. Good, agricultural earth is not one of those limitless blessings, A lot of people are ,in a rare old fret because it looks as if our energy resources aren't as limitless as we thought them to be a few years ago. There's a whole mess brewing in the electrical industry because they've discovered that world deposits of copper won't last forever. As a result they've switched to trying other elec- trical conductors and you all know some of the fusses we've seen over aluminum wiring. Well, let me tell you, it's time we started treating our earth with respect too, There's a hungry world out there and it's up to the have nations to feed it. But because we're running out of space, every 'seed that goes into the soil is going to have to literally "bring forth a hun- dredfold". I don't know whether we've got to that level of return yet, but it's up 'to'us to keep on working on it, And to keep our breeders working on improving drops, we've got to give them; the in- centives, the back-ups, and the protection they're looking for. I've outlined only the main thrust of the proposed legislation today, because the whole concept is still in the embryo stage. The actual legislation is being worked on right now and I think that by early spring, next year, there'll be something more solid to put before the House of Commons, Whatever else the legislation may do, it will ensure that, at long last, the breeder of any particular variety will own the right to that variety, And if there are those who wonder if my Department's Research Branch will get preferential treatment when it comes to the introduction of new strains, the answer is emphatically no. Industry, government and individual plant breeders will all stand the same chance under any new legislation which is introduced. Of course, when it comes to a breeder collecting royalties on his product, I know that there are some private arrangements which allow for that to be done right now, But because these arrangements are not based on any legal recognition of varietal ownership, they lack any real punch on the international market, Actually, never mind the international market, there's some question as to the legality of those arrangements on the domestic market, too. Farmers know that providing and enforcing a legal system under which royalties can be collected may mean that seed prices will increase. I've told farmers, and I think that I'm going to have to tell them a lot more if this legislation goes through, that they may have to put out an extra buck or two when they buy their seed, but that they'll get it back, plus some, when it comes to harvest time. The final cash benefits from using improved varieties should make up for any initial ex- penditure. If and when that new legislation comes in, my Department's got to be ready to assume a new responsibility. The responsibility of developing programs that will, at the same time as making the new legislation work, make sure that the interests of all the sectors involved are fairly represented. But, like the work that the plant breeders do, nothing's going to happen over night, Plant breeding, if you want an end product to be proud of can't be hurried. I'm not known as a very patient man, but I'm prepared to wait, and talk, and get the whole problem of plant breeders' rights sorted out so that everybody benefits. And when I say everybody, I'm looking outward, I see the plant breeder as the man who holds the key to food storage for a hungry world. And, let me tell you, I'm going to give him all the help I can. Those new varieties give farmers stronger crops which can withstand disease, which show a higher resistance to pests, mature earlier, and give a higher yield of a better quality product. So what would this legislation accomplish if it were to come in? Who would benefit? Well, very simply, the whole subject under discussion now is based on the premise that any legislation would have to provide the plant breeder with clear ownership of his variety. He could, therefore, control multiplication, distribution and sale, and collect royalties when others sell his product, The legislation would also have to take into account any false padding of the market. For example, there could possibly be an artificial reduction of supply of a particular plant variety. That way, the variety's market price would go up. The buyer would get hit in the pocket, and the breeder would be laughing all the way to the bank, That sort of market manipulation isn't what anybody wants, so the legislation would have to have some in- surance clause that supply would remain constant. Certainly, the breeder would benefit. But ultimately, so would the Canadian farmer if some sort s of protective legislation was in MEDIA DAY AT STEWART'S — The annual Media Day was held Friday at Stewart Seeds at Ailsa Craig and close to 100 attended. Above, Stewart's executive vice-president 'Byron Beeler chats with Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Peter Hannam, Bill Brady of CFPL and Stewart's marketing manager Rob Macln nes. T-A Photo GET SET FOR THE NEW TV SEAS JULY 18 Trivitt Memorial Anglican Church Corner Main and Gidley MONDAY, 7:30 p.m. For class locations and information Call FREE 1-800-261-0573 Meet Elsie Jokinen, Counterweight's fitness expert and find out "How You Measure Up." 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