Article in the Journal of Politics and Law, with reference to the Access to Seeds Index:
“Company policies may also include commitments and strategies to help improve the situation of smallholder farmers, based on their portfolio, assets and capabilities. One initiative that aims to make this transparent is the Access to Seeds Index, which measures and compares the efforts of the world’s leading seed companies to enhance the productivity of smallholder farmers. What emerges however, is that at the core of all these strategies is the fact that breeding companies have to look at a product development horizon of several to many years. It may take 4-6 years to bring a new maize or tomato hybrid to market, and 12 to dozens of years for potato or fruit trees. However, new breeding technologies continue to emerge that may variedly reduce product development horizons between crops.”
Link to article (pdf)
