Kopytko, N orcid.org/0000-0002-5164-1233 (2019) Supporting Sustainable Innovations: An Examination of India Farmer Agrobiodiversity Conservation. Journal of Environment and Development, 28 (4). pp. 386-411. ISSN 1070-4965
Abstract
Critical to sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity conservation provides immediate benefits and retains options for climate change adaptation. Reframing conservation as sustainable seed innovation allows for a dynamic view of farmer contributions. Sustainable seed innovation entails in situ conservation and the innovation of new plant varieties through traditional practices. Farmer interviews from regions throughout India form the empirical basis, while the concept intellectual property-broad, integrated with evolutionary economics, informs theory. Sustainable seed innovation within India receives support primarily from nonprofit groups favoring open-source systems. Conserving natural and financial capital motivated farmers to adopt sustainable techniques, but farmers believed attracting additional innovators required development of new markets. India’s Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act recognizes farmers as plant breeders but does not provide incentive to innovate sustainably. Moreover, agricultural policies reinforced by an underlying discourse where “progressive” farmers follow unsustainable practices incentivizes formal innovations, at the expense of sustainable innovations of farmers.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019, The Author(s). This is an author produced version of an article published in Journal of Environment and Development. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | intellectual property, innovation, agrobiodiversity, evolutionary economics, sustainable agriculture |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Arts & Humanities Research Council AHRC AH/P007775/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Sep 2019 15:14 |
Last Modified: | 19 Nov 2019 15:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1070496519870299 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:150315 |