ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the seed industry producing certain agricultural ‘major crops’ — the cereals, oil crops, fibre crops, food legumes, forages, vegetables, fruit and roots and tubers which form the basis of the diet of much of the world’s population. It deals with an introduction to the international legal and policy context for access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, examines the roles of the different actors involved in plant breeding, and the markets for various agricultural products. The improvement of existing varieties of crops and the development of new crop species will be vital for sustainable development and for food security. Since time immemorial, farming communities and individual farmers have adapted germplasm to local conditions and selected the best seed each season, thus gradually improving varieties. The role of intermediary organisations - those who gain access to genetic resources and pass them on to others for commercialisation - is growing in the seed industry.
