A report commissioned by the Western Canadian Grain Vision Committee raises some questions about the way new varieties are approved for registration.
Kurt Klein, a University of Lethbridge economist, studied the recommending committee process as part of a look at how agricultural research decisions are made.
Klein also found the introduction of plant breeders’ rights in 1991 means some people on recommending committees now have vested interests in approving some varieties.
For example, Klein reported in 1996, one cultivar was voted down for registration by a show of hands of 28 to 27, a total of 55 votes. Only 52 people were in the room. The vote was taken again by secret ballot.
He also analyzed committee voting decisions on hard red spring wheat varieties from 1974 to 1992, and found objective reasons like disease and quality characteristics explained only 30 percent of the committee’s decisions.
