114 



Department Operations and Nutrition Subcommittee 

 Public Hearing 

 May 24, 1994 



Richard L. Lower 



University of Wisconsin-Madison 



on behalf of the Experiment Station Committee on 



Operations Planning, National Association of State Universities and 



Land Grant Colleges 



My name is Richard L. Lower. My current position is Associate Dean of the College of 

 Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW-Madison and Associate Director of the Wisconsin 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. I also serve as Chair of the Experiment Station Committee 

 on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) Subcommittee on Plant Germplasm. In addition to 

 representing ESCOP, I represent the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) 

 and the Steering Committee of the Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights: Protection 

 of Plant Materials, held in Washington, D.C. in 1993. This workshop, and its predecessor 

 held in Anaheim, California in 1989, were developed to answer questions regarding plant 

 germplasm (further defined as seed and vegetatively propagated genetic material, cell and 

 tissue culture lines, DNA fragments and pollen) . 



Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the invitation to take part in this hearing. 



My comments address plant germplasm from the perspective of a research administrator 

 at a public institution. Public germplasm research has been conducted for over a century 

 and is a primary responsibility of the State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES). The 

 SAESs employ approximately 6,000 faculty throughout the United States'. A significant 

 portion of these research scientists are directly involved in plant germplasm activities, 

 including acquisition, collection, evaluation, enhancement and genetic improvement of 

 plants. Approximately 350 SAES scientists are plant breeders and they are directly 

 involved in the development of improved germplasm for food, fiber and ornamental 

 crops. In many crops, the role of variety development has been successfully transferred 

 from the public to private industry. However, contributions from public germplasm 

 programs continue to result in improved pest resistance, product quality, and profitability, 

 as well as new knowledge, enhanced technologies and improved breeding 

 methodologies. 



SAESs also respond to other rather common situations. In some states, a lack or paucity 

 of acceptable private varieties, because of a unique production or marketing opportunity, 

 has resulted in development of publicly supported germplasm programs and the release of 

 public cultivars. Small acreage specialty crops of major economic importance to a state, 

 but with little interest or incentive to private firms, also are supported by SAES programs. 



