BOTANY Higher Secondary Second Year - Textbooks Online

patency is that it may lead to scarcity of genetic resources. In addition,
majority of the people may not have access to certain rare genetic resources
protected by Bio-patency laws.
People argue that giving patent rights to transgenic plants and
transgenic animals is a wrongful idea as these patents will work as
impediments in free exchange of genetic materials for improvement of
crops and livestock.
Intellectual Property Rights may also adversely affect the following:
Food security, use of evolved agricultural practices, biological
diversity and ecological balance and livelihood of the poor in developing countries.
Patents
The Indian Patent Act of 1970 allows process patents, but no product
patents for foods, chemicals drugs and pharmaceuticals. Duration of patent
in India is 5 years. Under USA law, a patent means grant of “right to
exclude others from making, using or selling” an invention for a 17 year
period. To day, many favour the patenting of inventions arising from
basic research. Patents are granted as per the law of the State and are also
disputed in the court of Law whenever complaints of infringement of the
patents are violated by the people. In 1980, the discovery of an oil eating
bacterium (Pseudomonas) by a non-resident Indian Scientist (Dr.
Chakrabarty) was patented in USA by a multinational Corporation.
Similarly, an ‘oncomouse’ was also patented. All this means that life
forms could be patented.
6.7. Sustained agriculture
Increased food production in India was made possible by the
employment of modern technology in agriculture. The increase in the
productivity is mainly due to rapid rise in overall area under cultivation of
cereals. To maintain the crops and productivity, we have to expand
irrigation facilities and use large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides.
This overexploitation had resulted in the degradation of soils and their
erosion. Due to degeneration in soil fertility, the traditional varieties of
crop plants as cultivated in earlier periods got disappeared or are on the
brink of extinction. Our agriculture is slowly being converted into an
unsustainable system in the years to come, as the cost of chemicals and fertilizers,
labour, cost of seeds are going to make the agricultural products costlier.
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