Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 6846 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM SPOTLIGHT: GERMAN PLANT BREEDERS’ ASSOCIATION BDP PROTECTING THE BASIS OF LIFE A HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY YEARS YOUNG AND HIGHLY ACTIVE, THE GERMAN PLANT BREEDERS’ ASSOCIATION IS AS RELEVANT AS EVER. BY: GERMAN PLANT BREEDERS’ ASSOCIATION lants are the basis of our life. They are essential for the provision of healthy food in sufficient quantities, for our wellbeing and for future energy supply. One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel discovered the principles governing the way the hereditary information is handed down to subsequent generations. Since then, plants with certain properties have been developed by means of targeted crossing and selection of the offspring with the desired qualities. In this way, every year new plant varieties are being created with continuously improved traits. Gregor Mendel’s discoveries gave rise to the modern plant breeding sector. They have continued to shape the work of the plant breeder up to the present day. In 2016, the 150th anniversary of Mendel’s discoveries, the German Plant Breeders’ Association is celebrating this with various actions and events in order to raise public awareness of plant breeding issues. Diversity is the hallmark of German plant breeding. Germany includes a large number of prospering plant breeding enterprises, and it is these enterprises’ continued output of ever-improved plant varieties that account for Germany’s place among the leading plant breeding nations in the world. The German plant breeding sector features a uniquely diversified, worldwide structure. Some 130 companies are active in plant breeding or in trade with seeds P of agricultural and horticultural crops, 58 with their own breeding programmes. The plant breeding enterprises and their highly qualified staff are the epitome of innovation. The German Plant Breeders’ Association (BDP) is a registered association seated in Bonn and Berlin. It represents the interests of the plant breeding and seed trading companies in Germany. BDP is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. Membership is voluntary. BDP is exclusively financed by the contributions of its 130 member companies. BDP voices the interests of its members and offers them consulting services. BDP is the accepted contact for industry, science and politics. The focus of BDP is on optimizing the framework conditions for the plant breeding and seed industries, especially the effective protection of intellectual property; the organization of plant breeding research; the promotion of new breeding technologies; and the improvement of legislation on plant variety protection and seed marketing. Crop-specific issues are being dealt with in potato, sugar beets, cereals, oil and protein plants, maize, various vegetables, forage plants, grape vine and ornamental plants. In addition to these, there is also a trade section and a section on biotechnology. The highest decision-making body of the German Plant Breeders Association is the General Assembly of all member companies — both plant breeding and seed trading companies. The General Assembly elects the board of directors, the president and the vice-presidents. The president is the highest representative of our association. THE BDP NETWORK The German Plant Breeders’ Association is primarily committed to servicing its members. To this end, the following subsidiary organizations form a platform for joint approaches in pre-competitive research partnerships, patent issues, official seed testing and implementation of plant variety protection rights. The German Federation for Plant Innovation (GFPi) is a non-profit association with more than 60 mostly small and medi- um-sized member companies which are either active in plant breeding or deal with plants or plant products along the entire agricultural or horticultural value chain. GFPi promotes inno- vation in plant research. GFPi takes the role of a catalyst initiator and facilitator for research co-operations at the national and international level. With a view to enhancing awareness of the importance and necessity of plant research, the members and committees of GFPi regularly set up suitable research strategies. As a mediator between science and economy, GFPi ensures that results of GFPi research projects will be transferred into prac- tical application. GFPi initiates and facilitates primarily pre-competitive joint research pro- jects and enables the transposition of research results into practical applications. Member companies interested in a specific research project of a scientist at a research facility will jointly support this project. Research results will influence the development of new plant varieties or will help improve the methodology in plant breeding, plant processing or plant research. GFPi acts as a mediator between public science and industry and carries out the respective administrative work. Plant variety protection rights (PVP) are the driving force of breeding progress; they Milestones in Plant Breeding