- Malaysia is preparing to amend its Protection of New Plant Varieties Act to join the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) by 2026.
- UPOV membership is a key criterion for Malaysia to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement, to access a broader international trade market.
- Some farmers’ groups and NGOs oppose any amendment to the law, arguing that it would undermine farmers’ rights to freely save, keep and sell seeds, and that it would jeopardize agro-biodiversity. Without the law amendment bill being made public, the law’s potential impacts on farmers remain unclear.
- This is one of two proposed changes to Malaysian laws that would affect seeds and the farmers who use them.
This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2, forthcoming, will report more on Malaysia’s seed quality bill.
On an August Sunday morning, a rice mill roars in a public park in the busy Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Paddy farmer Azhar Hashim has brought it from his house in Perak state, 280 kilometers (175 miles) away, for the farmers’ carnival. Golden paddy turns into white rice as the machine grinds.
At the carnival, farmers and NGOs give out free seeds and plant cuttings, sell saplings and food made from their harvest. Visitors guess plant names from seeds. Many leave with freshly milled rice.
The carnival is part of the Malaysia Food Sovereignty Forum (FKMM) initiative to bring farmers and public members together to talk about seeds — something that’s been in the public eye recently.
FKMM, a coalition of farmers, fishers, breeders, academics and professionals, is opposing a proposed law amendment to Malaysia’s Protection of New Plant Varieties (PNPV) Act, which, if implemented, critics say could hurt the rights of small farmers.
The PNPV Act came into force in 2007. Under this act, a plant breeder can apply to the government for exclusive rights over a new plant variety. If the variety meets the criteria, the breeder is granted 15- to 25-year breeder’s rights. The granted rights are gazetted and added to a public list.
While the act protects breeders’ rights, it exempts small farmers who farm less than 0.2 hectares of land (0.5 acres, about 30% of the size of a soccer field). These small farmers are allowed to reuse seeds from protected plant varieties in their land and share seeds with other small farmers.
Critics of the proposed changes say the current law “uniquely balances” the interests of farmers, breeders and the public, and that it should remain unchanged.
With an amendment looming, some farmers say they are concerned that it would force them to depend more on large seed corporations and buy new seeds each season. However, the law amendment bill is not publicly available. Much of the discussion about its impact on farmers and the country’s food production system remains speculative and based on incomplete information. As questions linger, opposition mounts.
Free trade agreement pressure
According to the agriculture department’s director-general, Nor Sam Alwi, who spoke at the opening of a recent consultation session with government officers, the PNPV law is being amended to fulfil a key criterion for Malaysia to join a free trade agreement known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
In 2022, Malaysia ratified the CPTPP to widen its international market access. CPTPP has 12 country members, amounting to 14.4% of world GDP. It covers a wide range of trades, from energy and industrial goods to digital services — and food. To make sure intellectual property is protected across countries, CPTPP members must also join the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), an intergovernmental organization that promotes a protection system for plant breeders’ rights. It has 80 members, including the European Union, and covers 99 countries worldwide. Member countries must adapt their laws in line with the UPOV Convention to grant and protect plant breeders’ rights, allowing them to license and monetize their innovations. The proposed amendment to Malaysia’s PNPV law would fulfill this requirement.
According to the CPTPP agreement, Malaysia had four years from ratification to amend its law and join UPOV. That deadline is in 2026.
Under the UPOV Convention, farmers must get breeders’ authorization to use propagating materials (e.g., seeds and cuttings) from a protected variety for commercial purposes.
Some farmers reportedly have said that if the amended PNPV Act is too restrictive, they worry about having to buy seeds from seed companies every time they want to replant a protected variety.
While some farmers say it would limit their freedom to save, share and sell seeds, the proposed changes would better incentivize plant breeding companies. In fact, part of the country’s plan to achieve food security and economic growth is by speeding up new plant variety development to grow its seed industry.
Encourage innovation for food security
Agricultural economics professor of Universiti Putra Malaysia, Shaufique Fahmi Ahmad Sidique, tells Mongabay in a video interview that stronger protection would encourage plant innovation.
He notes that if seeds are commercially developed, farmers should not be allowed to reproduce and create the seeds.
He says, “Number one, you protect the buyers because you will be sure that you will buy genuine variety.
“Number two, you will protect the producers. I mean, you spend a lot on R&D to produce [a new plant variety], only to have it reproduced by somebody else, not under license. I mean, that’s unfair, right? And how do you develop this industry? If you are not protected, you can never encourage people to, the private sector to develop [new plant varieties].”
However, in the field, some farmers have been saving commercially produced seeds they deemed good in recent years.
In a study on the potential impacts of joining UPOV on farmers’ practices, FKMM coordinator NurFitri Amir Muhammad reported that the 200 paddy farmers he interviewed in Peninsular Malaysia used mostly seeds of protected varieties; 33.5% of them saved seeds.
He wrote that aligning with the UPOV Convention would accelerate agricultural industrialization and adversely affect farmers’ sociocultural practices and socioeconomic status. It would also deny farmers’ rights, he said.
In an interview with Mongabay, he states that farmers’ rights to save, share and sell farm-saved seeds are outlined in the legally binding International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), which Malaysia is part of. The ITGRFA recognizes farmers’ contribution to crop diversity.
Additionally, he tells Mongabay that if and when seeds are controlled, farmers will reduce seed saving, sharing and selling; crop variety will decrease; and agro-biodiversity will decline. He says that in a monoculture farm, plant diseases spread quickly without other immune varieties to stop their spread.
In an email to Mongabay, the agriculture department, too, cites the ITPGRFA, in response to questions about the proposed changes to the PNPV Act. The department says the proposed law amendments are under review.
They write, “This process is the responsibility of the government to ensure that national laws remain consistent with domestic regulations and international commitments ratified by Malaysia, including the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). In relation to that, any interpretation outside of this official process is not accurate.”
Farmers’ freedom and rights
In a granary in the Perak state, the paddy is lush and green at around 75 days old. Houses and roads line canals that divide the paddy fields. This is where farmer Azhar — whose mill is featured in the Kuala Lumpur farmers’ carnival — lives and works. At the back of his childhood home, Azhar grows a paddy variety shared by his farmer friend from Kedah state. It is a variety developed for commercial use. (Mongabay checked the paddy variety name on the agriculture department’s gazetted variety list as well as the list of applications, and it was found in neither.)
He says he will observe the paddy’s traits — how the flowers emerge from their sheath, how the panicle bends when grains fill and ripen, and how the grains look. He will also count the number of grains it forms. If the variety is good, he will save the seeds.
However, if it involves a protected variety, this seed-sharing practice would likely require a breeder’s authorization if the Malaysian law changes to align with the UPOV Convention. Currently, small farmers can freely share seeds, but that may change with the proposed amendment. Azhar considers himself a small farmer, although his 6.5-hectare (16-acre) farm exceeds the PNPV Act’s “small farmer” limit .
In Malaysia, the definition of small farmers varies in different laws and contexts. According to the World Bank’s report, small-scale farmers farm most crops, except for oil palm. This includes farmers who farm less than 40 hectares (100 acres) of land, although most small farmers across the country operate on less than 2 hectares (5 acres) of land.
Azhar would likely be subject to Malaysia’s new seed rules, as long as he sells his harvest. He says he’s worried that he would no longer be able to save seeds if the current law is amended.
Regardless, the UPOV Convention doesn’t make an exception for farmers based on farm size. Rather, according to the UPOV Convention, a member country may allow farmers to use farm-saved seeds in their own farm, but “within reasonable limits and subject to the safeguarding of the legitimate interests of the breeder.” UPOV suggests that the country specify the type of varieties, harvest amount, farm size, crop value and remuneration for breeders, for exemptions. So, this exemption would not undermine incentives for breeders.
That means, according to UPOV standards, reusing farm-saved seeds may be allowed, but subject to criteria.
Back in his house, Azhar explains why saving seeds matters. He saves seeds to reduce costs. He supplements the paddy seeds he purchases with his farmed-saved seeds for his paddy plots. Each season, he sells most of his harvest to rice milling factories, but he also keeps some as seeds and food. Some years ago, he bought a small milling machine to mill his harvest, so his family could eat rice from the paddy he grows.
Besides cost-saving, he says he feels satisfied to see the seedlings he saves grow in the field every day. If the harvest is good, he will save the seeds again. “But when we buy [seeds], we won’t know how the seed farms work. When we grow our own seeds, we get to see them every day,” he tells Mongabay.
As Azhar drives to his paddy plots, he points out the plot where he plants seeds he saved. “Our own seeds, they grow beautifully,” Azhar says. “They bend beautifully. And quick. They sprout quickly. If we save 20 kilograms [or 44 pounds of seeds, all] 20 kg will grow. So that means we don’t need a lot of seeds.”
For one acre, he needs only three bags of his own seeds, compared with five if purchased. He says the seeds he buys usually contain weed seeds and immature paddy seeds.
To make paddy seeds, Azhar says he collects seeds from the plants only when they are 120 days old. The seeds are reddish in color, but the ones he buys are yellow — still too young for seeds.
Under the agriculture department’s Paddy Seeds Certification Scheme, seed producers follow a set procedure to produce paddy seeds, ensuring they meet a quality standard.
However, many farmers share Azhar’s concerns. Paddy farmers in Kedah state have reportedly said the quality of certified paddy seeds has been declining for six years.
New law for seed quality
To tackle the seed quality problem, the government is expected to propose a crop seed quality bill in 2026. But FKMM and farmers like Azhar say they fear it could further restrict farmers’ seed practices.
The day after the farmers’ carnival, FKMM and partner NGOs submit a memorandum to members of Parliament. They demand that the government uphold farmers’ rights, halt the amendment to the PNPV Act to join UPOV and oppose the crop seed quality bill.
“This bill is an overkill act that will burden and criminalize small farmers, urban farmers and individuals who share seeds in the community,” their memorandum states.
Banner image: Farmer Mohd. Naim Razak explains how different coconut varieties have different trunk shapes. Image by Lee Kwai Han.
Credits
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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