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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Are millets safe from biopiracy? -Vibha Varshney

Are millets safe from biopiracy? -Vibha Varshney

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published Published on Jan 2, 2023   modified Modified on Jan 4, 2023

-Down to Earth

2023 is the International Year of the Millets and during the year, efforts would be made to promote this superfood

2023 is the International Year of the Millets and during the year, efforts would be made to promote this superfood. As millets are adapted to grow in dry and arid regions, they attract big businesses and companies in times when climate change is making cultivation of other cereals difficult.

But these companies tend to forget about community rights when thinking of profits. It would be judicious to put in place a strong system to protect genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with them.

History is dotted with examples where industry and researchers have accessed millets from developing countries but have failed to share benefits with them — a principle which is at the core of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Teff, a millet which was domesticated in the Ethiopian highlands around 3,000 years ago, is a case in point. Teff (Eragrostis tef) is an integral part of Ethiopian cuisine and is used to prepare injera, a pancake made from fermented flour — much like India’s dosa.

Ethiopia depends extensively on this climate-resilient plant to fight famine. Additionally, teff is rich in fibre, essential amino acids and minerals such as calcium and iron.

The Netherlands was among the countries to look for profit from this plant. 

In 2003, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization and Dutch company Larenstein Transfer and Soil and Crop Improvement, under which seeds were shared by Ethiopia for research and development purposes.

But profits from teff were not shared with Ethiopia. Instead, the company filed a patent application on the processing of teff flour and related products in the Netherlands in 2003.

An offshoot of the company filed for a patent at the European Patent Office in 2004 and this was granted in 2007. Ethiopia was not part of these patents.

Due to these patents, anyone using teff flour had to pay a license fee to the Dutch company. The patent was revoked in the Netherlands in 2019 and Germany in 2020 after litigation and will officially expire in other European countries in 2024.

This is not a one-off case of the biopiracy of millets.

Please click here to read more. 


Down to Earth, 2 January, 2023, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/wildlife-biodiversity/are-millets-safe-from-biopiracy--86886


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