Seeds and plant breeding for field crops and pastures

You cannot accurately assess seed quality just by looking at it. Seed may appear clean and healthy, but could contain weed seeds and have low germination. Most seed of the same species looks identical, so you cannot be sure of the variety you are purchasing – unless it is certified or quality assured seed.

Plant breeder's rights is a type of copyright which protects the breeder’s ‘invention’ of a new and uniquely different plant variety. It provides the right of commercialisation of this ‘new’ variety and as a flow on, via grower contracts, provides for the collection of royalties at one point during the production cycle.