The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning to publicly release 29 new varieties of vegetables and grains under its Open Source Seed Pledge, according to a press release.
Broccoli, celery, kale, quinoa and other vegetables and grains are being released under the pledge, which was developed through a University-led effort called the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI). This project is designed to keep new seeds free for all people to grow, breed, and share for perpetuity. The goal is to protect the plants from patents and future restrictions.
Click Here to View OSSI's 22 Available Open Source Varieties
"These vegetables are part of our common cultural heritage, and our goal is to make sure these seeds remain in the public domain for people to use in the future," says UW-Madison horticulture professor and plant breeder Irwin Goldman, who helped write the pledge.
29 new varieties will be added to the OSSI collection during a public ceremony this Thursday. In the spirit of the event, Goldman will be releasing two carrot varieties he developed-named Sovereign and Oranje.
Increasingly, vegetable seeds are restricted through patents, licenses and other forms of intellectual property protection. Members of OSSI are worried that this trend could lead to a time when no valuable plant genetics are available for public use.
"Already, many public breeders don't have the freedom to operate. They can't do what they want to do as often as they would like," says Jack Kloppenburg, UW-Madison Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology.
OSSI's seed initiative was inspired by the open source software community, which freely shares and collaborates to create new software products.
"It creates a parallel system, a new space where breeders and farmers can share seeds," says Kloppenburg. "And, because it applies to derivatives, it makes for an expanding pool of germplasm that any plant breeder can freely use."
This initiative is expected to make more varieties available for public breeders, hopefully leading to better new crops varieties in the future.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
