1. This document summarizes the contents of the submissions received by Contacting Parties and relevant organizations on the implementation of Farmers’ Rights as set out in Article 9 of the International Treaty. The compilation of complete submissions is available in document IT/GB-5/13/Inf.8 2. The document also refers to considerations made by the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources; the Regional Workshops on Farmers’ Rights; other activities undertaken by the Secretariat of the Treaty related to Farmers’ Rights at the request of the Governing Body and the work done by FAO Programmes in relation to Farmers’ Rights in the Treaty. 3. The Governing Body is invited to take note of the information submitted and to provide guidance on the future implementation of Farmers’ Rights as set out in Article 9 of the International Treaty.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general analysis of the comments made by the authors of the book chapters in the ongoing implementation of the Treaty. The reader will have noticed that, on the one hand, many authors remain fairly optimistic about the Treaty and note that considerable progress has been achieved in a very short period of time, even beyond their initial expectation. On the other hand, some authors, while recognizing that the Treaty is a useful and flexible instrument, point at the risk that the lack of appropriate and quick decisions and actions to speed up the implementation process may lead to a decreased level of confidence in the general framework set up by the Treaty. Most of them recognize that it is now the moment to advance on its implementation.

Plant breeding started about 9000 to 11,000 years ago when man started with the domestication of wild plants. Farmers and growers tried to improve their crops with desired traits through trial and error. The evolutionary theories of Darwin and the genetic experiments of Mendel that were developed at the end of the 19th century gave a further impulse to plant breeding and made it more efficient. During the 20th century breeding science was further improved through knowledge of genetics, plant pathology and entomology (Bruins, 2009). The development of hybrids (starting around 1920) was the first technology in plant breeding to offer better plant varieties to growers and farmers.

Scientists and policy makers in North America share the view that genetic improvement of crop plants is a great benefit to humanity. It is one of the least costly and most effective ways to increase production of food, fibre and plantbased products, to resist pests and diseases, to meet new market opportunities, and to address the challenges of abiotic stresses such as drought, temperature and climate change. Three conditions appear necessary for these benefits to be realized: plant genetic diversity for food and agriculture must exist; the plant genetic resources must be available; and the capacity must be present to use them – that is, human, scientific and financial resources.