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58 SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2016 STATUS INDIA The Indian government is backtracking a policy which capped royalty fees and prohibited a technology com- pany from denying a license to local companies. On May 18 Indias Ministry of Agriculture put forth an order capping royalty fees payable to providers of genetically modified seed technol- ogy and barring them from denying a license to any local company. According to the notification for any GM trait commercialized in India the technology provider cannot charge a royalty fee that exceeds 10 percent of the maximum sale price of the seeds which is fixed by the government every year. The cap of 10 percent would apply for the first five years. After that the royalty would decrease by 10 percent annu- ally. Additionally the technol- ogy provider could not refuse a license to any eligible seed company. If delayed by more than a month the license would be deemed to have been obtained. The order followed a dispute between Monsanto and the government over the royalty and price of its GM cotton seed. In March the govern- ment cut the price of Bollgard II cotton seeds to 11.86 for a 450 gram packet. Previously the price ranged from 12.31 to 14.83. It also reduced roy- alty fees by 74 percent. According to the notification agreements between seed world STATUS A look at seed industry developments around the globe. Royalty collection and licensing continues to be an issue in India. Meanwhile Malawi South Korea and the United Kingdom look to advance yields partner and innovate. companies and technology providers would be based on principles of Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory FRAND licensing guidelines. Technology companies could not charge a royalty on GM traits that have lost their effi- cacy. They could not charge an upfront fee from domestic seed companies that had already paid these fees in the past. Fees would be limited to 37071 for new licensing agreements whereas in the past Monsanto charged an upfront fee of 74142 for its Bt cotton technology. Less than a week after the May 18 order the government withdrew it and placed it as a draft for public consultation for 90 days. It the original order clearly indicates the intention of the government to disregard research and innovation and thereby not protect intellectual property in the sector says Shivendra Bajaj executive director of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises Agriculture Focus Group. Source Live Mint. STATUS MALAWI Seed Co Malawi Limited which produces hybrid maize and legume seed launched a winter seed distribution cam- paign to enhance irrigation farming. The launch is in line with the governments efforts to revamp the green belt irrigation project according to Hannock Madeira Seed Co sales and marketing manager. The varieties that have been distributed for winter crop- ping are SC 403 commonly known as Kanyani and SC 537 known as Mbidzi. These varieties are drought resistant maize streak virus tolerant early maturing with SC 403 at 90 days semi-flint and SC 537 at 110 days flint and have a yield potential of 6 to 8 metric tonnes per hectare Madeira says. World over we are experiencing climate change effects. This has resulted in low yields. However we can do better through irrigation. The poten- tial is there to turn around our economy if farmers can produce twice or thrice per year. Apart from that our aim is to improve the livelihood of the farmer. As a company Madeira says they have enough seed to meet the winter demand. Source The Times Group. STATUS SOUTH KOREA In mid May a delega- tion including strawberry breeders and directors from South Korea visited the Noordoostpolder in the Netherlands with the goal of initiating a collaboration between the two strawberry breeding programs. Knowledge is being exchanged between South Korea and Europe and people are being trained in plant breeding with the goal of creating improved varieties for the global market.