Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Asia’s fruit wars: The secretive world of plant invention and seed
smuggling
Japanese premium, branded fruits grown in open fields, such as grapes, peaches,
and pears, are vulnerable to theft. They are stolen right before harvest when
their market value peaks. It is devastating to farmers who have put in hard
work and considerable expenses to grow the fruits. Another kind of fruit theft
is seed smuggling and unauthorized overseas cultivation. Dozens of premium
Japanese fruits, such as high-end grapes, strawberries, and citrus fruits, have
had their seeds or saplings smuggled and cultivated unlawfully in other
countries, such as China and South Korea, whose climates are similar and suitable
for growing these premium fruits. What can Japanese farmers do to protect the business
opportunities of their premium fruits? There is an intergovernmental organization
that helps protect new plant varieties, but it is not an enforcement agency.
So, even if a plant is legally registered, once its saplings are smuggled and
cultivated overseas, it is difficult to track it down, stop the cultivation, and
get compensated. Legal protection is the first step to prevent proprietary
technologies from being copied illegally. But scale, efficiency, and economy of
production and distribution are essential to stay competitive in the same
product category. Premium fruits may not be excluded from competition.
Read the article and learn how highly-valued fruits are being invented and
copied in East Asia.
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