We are happy to announce that our abstract submitted to the International Wheat Congress has been accepted as an oral presentation! At the conference taking place from July 21-26, 2019 in Saskatoon, Canada, we will present important results from our work within the BRIWECS (Breeding Innovations in Wheat for Resilient Cropping Systems) research consortium.

As part of the BRIWECS project, HFFA Research is currently analyzing the economic and environmental impacts of the breeder’s exemption, which is an integral part of the German plant variety protection legislation. By ensuring that breeders can freely use other breeders’ licensed varieties for their own breeding activities, the breeder’s exemption aims to promote a faster transfer of genetic improvements and, thus, to speed up the development of improved crop varieties.

For the first time, we have now quantified the impact of the breeder’s exemption on wheat breeding in Germany, including an analysis of the economic impacts at farm level and on the agricultural sector. We also provide indicators to measure the breeder’s exemption’s environmental impacts, such as on greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity. Based on an impact assessment conducted on nearly 200 wheat varieties, our research shows that the breeder’s exemption offers some remarkable agronomic benefits which result in higher market revenue, lower production costs and increased natural resource efficiency.

Our presentation with the title “The breeder’s exemption and its economic and environmental impacts on winter wheat production in Germany” will be part of the broader conference topic “Wheat Production Systems: Environment, Sustainability, and Management”. Stay tuned to receive more updates on the precise numbers and outcomes we will present at the conference!

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