Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=State-of-Wiscons%l=MAIL02-970703120842Z-1254@mail01.dnr.state.wi.us> Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 07:08:42 -0500 From: Jim Cory <mailto:CoryJ@MAIL01.DNR.STATE.WI.US> Subject: Re: Quinoa Patent To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
I have been following the Quinoa patent discussion with some interest and for the most part agree with John Daly's post of July 2:I believe that unless the world learns to recognize agricultural biodiversity as a resource, it will not protect that diversity. Johnson and Ward appear to be experts who can demonstrate the value in biodiversity, and thus convince people it is a resource. If we are to both preserve diversity in crops like quinoa and accommodate legitimate demands of farmers growing the crops for relief from poverty, a very careful balancing will be needed in which diverse materials to be saved and improved varieties will both be used. As far as I can see there is going to have to be an alliance between farmers and experts to make this work. The partnership will not be built on distrust and misinformation. RAFI senior staff in this case seem to be disseminating misinformation and creating distrust between farmers and experts.
The "careful balancing" he speaks of, however, will not be achieved without vigilance. If RAFI had not gone "overboard" stating it's case, would there have been this very informative discussion about the repercussions of plant research? Johnson and Ward may have had the best of intentions, but might there not be others whose regard for the well being of future generations is somewhat negligible. That's one of the reasons a list like this exists: to overcome the entropy of disregard.
Jim Cory, GIS Analyst Wisconsion Dept of Natural Resources 101 S. Webster St Madison, Wi 53703 608-267-0799 mailto:coryj@mail01.dnr.state.wi.us