Abstract:
Addressing the multiple challenges facing global agriculture requires integrated innovation in areas such as
seeds, biotechnology, crop protection, grain storage and transport. Innovations related to plant improvement
and the development of new or improved plant varieties will only happen at an optimal level if plant breeders’
rights (PBR) are properly protected. The objective was to analyse the evolving landscape of wheat plant
breeders’ rights to address the dearth of empirical evidence of the patterns and trends of wheat varietal
improvements in South Africa. We compiled a detailed and novel count and attribute database of wheat varietal
innovations in South Africa from 1979 to 2013 using various sources. This data set was then analysed to
ascertain the main trends in, and ownership of PBRs for wheat varietal improvements in South Africa over
this period. A total of 134 PBR wheat varietal innovations were lodged from 1979 to 2013, an average of
6 applications per year. The administrative delays in granting PBR applications were substantially reduced
by 77 days during the post-deregulation period (after 1996), indicating increased efficiency. The main PBR
applicants were Sensako (39%), the Agricultural Research Council Small Grains Institute (ARC-SGI) (25%)
and Pannar (15%). The ARC-SGI contributed to some of the PBRs owned by private companies through
shared genetic resources before Plant Variety Protection (PVP) was implemented. Future innovations and
dissemination of wheat innovations can be stimulated by plant variety protection, together with broader variety
sector legislation that encourages both public and private sector investment.
