60 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2017 The Road Ahead But the Plant Breeding Innovation Working Group isn’t done; there’s a lot of road ahead. The communications subgroup will be developing a frequently asked questions document. The primary working group will expand its reach by collecting input and feed- back more countries. Additionally, the working group will begin talking about the importance of plant breeding innovation as part of other international meetings. These include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Asia- Pacific economic community. “These are places where governments are already meeting,” Slutsky says. “We are trying to get on the agendas to talk about the concept paper and discuss the importance of plant breeding innovation. In some cases, we’ll even look to host a side event.” FAO hosted a meeting on agricultural innovation, while OECD convened in Canada on gene editing, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation held a two-day workshop last June on plant breeding and the use of gene editing. Now ISF encourages members to start communicating with their governments and to proactively engage in conversations with their partners and downstream stakeholders in the value chain. “It’s important that our conversations don’t just focus on the technology of gene editing,” Keller says. “Gene editing wouldn’t be useful at all if we didn’t have the accumulation of knowledge such as genome mapping, marker-assisted selection and others. “Gene editing is one tool of many that breeders can use. We are not going to feed the world because of gene editing, but because plant breeders have access to all the tools available.” Drive for Consistency Consistent policies are not only important for seed trade, but also other parts of the value chain, particularly commodities and the grain trade, both of which depend on uninterrupted trade. “We are all familiar with the issues of asynchronous approv- als,” Slutsky points out. “From that perspective, we have to work with downstream partners on the end goal, as farmers want an array of technologies available. But farmers need reassurance that they will have a market for their product. “From a grain trade perspective, consistency is most important.” The other half of the equation is innovation. “The important piece is that the policies put in place shouldn’t be unnecessarily burdensome, and they should foster innovation,” she says. Adrian Percy, Bayer global head of research and develop- ment, favors a harmonized regulatory system. “Of course, it has to be a reasonable system that encourages innovation and one that allows us to support sustainable agriculture,” he says. With so much at stake and the importance of plant breeding innovations to agriculture’s ability to provide the feed, food, fiber and fuel needed in a sustainable way, researchers need access to all the tools in their toolbox. The next year-to-two are going to be pivotal, Keller adds. “Governments are actively discussing this topic, and it’s been in the press a great deal,” he says. “We need to stay ahead of the curve. Our focus is clearly plant breeding innovation. It’s the No. 1 priority for the entire industry — all players and all crops. It affects everyone.” SW