| Abstract: | SUMMARY One can predict a future in which professional plant breeding, especially in the private sector, will be significantly scaled back, and advanced biotechnologies (e.g., genetic engineering) will be forbidden for use in plant breeding. Alternatively, one can predict a future in which commercialism will rule all sectors. But a more optimistic outlook predicts that the current tripartite division of responsibilities will prevail: Private Sector, Public Sector, and Participatory (i.e., farmer-breeder partnerships). The global plant breeding system is composed of separate organs, each essential for the survival of the whole but each with a different function. All parts work together for the good of the whole. |
