Page 70 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

Chapter 2

of grants from the USDA’s Organic Research and Education Initiative (OREI) and

the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). The major part of

the funding was used to support breeding and variety trials. The results of the

SOS Report and this study’s indings indicate that substantial funding has also

supported the development of the various databases discussed above.

The mobilisation of over $9 million may seem like a large sum, but it is valuable to

note that it is estimated that the USDA funds conventional breeding initiatives

at more than six times this level (Policy representative interview, 2012). Much of

the funding for the organic sector has come from various divisions of the USDA

(but not the NOP). That is, while it is the USDA NOP that mandates organic seed

regulation and recommends an organic seed database, other organizations and

divisions within the USDA are funding the regulatory execution. The majority

of the funding is allocated for breeding and variety trials, processes typically

performed by the private sector in the conventional seed sector.

2.4 Discussion and conclusions

Over time, whether through commitment to the integrity of organic principles

and processes or through recognition of the economic potential of the sector

or both new stakeholders have opted to engage in the process of interpreting

and implementing the emergent regulatory regime and, through their active

participation, to construct the de facto regulatory framework under which

the industry is developing. Reganold et al. (2011) suggest in reference to the

anticipated changes to the upcoming US Farm Bill that “technical obstacles are

not the greatest barrier (to agricultural innovation). Change is rather hindered

by the market structures, policy incentives, and uneven development and avail-

ability of scientiic information that guide farmers’ decisions.” This judgment

maps well the evolution of organic seed regulation in the US. The interdepen-

dence of market structures, policy and science, in the absence of regulatory

clarity, has inhibited both technical capacity and market development in the

sector. Organic seed regulation has been driven by a growing inter-dependence

among initially independent protagonists such as the organic certiiers, small-

and large scale growers, organic food buyers, seed production and breeding

companies, non-proit organizations and government bodies engaged in the

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