Promoting Innovation for Sustainability in Agriculture - The Role of Malaysian Legal Framework

摘要

Sustainable agriculture is a system that can evolve indefinitely towards greater human utility, efficient use of resources, balanced with an environment which is favourable to humans and most other species. One of the ways to encourage sustainabilityin agriculture is by encouraging innovations. These include innovation in new and more efficient plant and animal breeds that will increase efficiency and less negative effects on the environment which will increase productivity and income for the participants in the agriculture sector. This article examines how the Malaysian Patents Act 1983 (MPA) and the Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 (PVP) can best be used to encourage innovations that will promote growth and sustainability in agriculture. MPA and PVP provide intellectual property protection for inventions. Specifically the PVP provides intellectual property protection for new breeds of plants that meet the necessary requirements. MPA is more relevant to other related inventions such asin the field of biotechnology. Nevertheless, the opportunities provided by the two legislations are not without their shortcomings. Such shortcomings include the high related costs, the perception that they are only suitable for big and rich inventors orbig business, that they are utilized mostly by foreigners, and that the time taken for protection to become effective is too lengthy. The article will explore such shortcomings and their effects on small farmers and smallholders. Taking into account ofdevelopments at the international level, the article also provides recommendations on how small farmers and smallholders can benefit from the protection systems to encourage them to be more innovative and to become more sustainable in the agriculture sector.