IT IS the story of Jack and the Beanstalk: the Christmas pantomime tale of a
boy with a handful of magic beans that overnight grow to the sky. The beanstalk
helps Jack to defeat the wicked giant, make his fortune, and save his family
from starvation.
This week the fairy story has come to life. The role of Jack is played by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, whose research
centres around the world hold a collection of seeds for half a million or more
traditional crop varieties. The sequencing of the genome of thale cress,
Arabidopsis thaliana, has given plant scientists the key to creating improved crop strains
(see “It’s a wonderful weed”), making Jack’s seeds more precious than ever.
Yet, far from being cock-a-hoop, CGIAR researchers are glum. Talks aimed at
creating a binding international agreement for sharing the world’s plant genetic
resources collapsed last month
(see “Sold to the highest bidder”). This little-noticed diplomatic
catastrophe means that few countries will send their seeds to the CGIAR’s banks.
Many will demand the return of what they have sent. Corporations may buy up the
rest, egged on by nations including the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
This grouping is the giant who wants to hoard the gold.
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The world faces, in effect, the wholesale privatisation of plants that feed
us all. Jack’s family—the world’s poor—face starvation. The chairman
of the talks says that only a major political breakthrough can keep the seeds in
public hands. That must be achieved. Anything less would be a victory for the
greedy giant. And the world demands a happy ending.
