Agricultural Biotechnology and New Trends in IPR Regime

Recent developments in biotechnology that have profoundly affected agriculture, more so in developing countries, have also been accompanied with the institution of stronger protection instruments. This, coupled with the fact that technological advances have thus far remained largely under the purview of the private sector gives rise to the question of the government's role and the space for public sector in agricultural R and D. There has also been a simultaneous focus on the increasing role of knowledge in agricultural production and the growing challenge of environment management in particular. What is critical is also the development of the necessary cohesion between broad developmental objectives and R and D endeavours that plays a far more significant role in frontier technologies especially biotechnology than in case of any of the traditional technologies.