Newly published araucaria descriptors enable cultivar protection

Prepared by scientists in partnership with Mapa, unprecedented instruction encourages the development of new materials of the species

23.11.2021 | 14:20 (UTC -3)
Embrapa
Prepared by scientists in partnership with Mapa, unprecedented instructions encourage the development of new materials for the species. - Photo: KatiaPichelli
Prepared by scientists in partnership with Mapa, unprecedented instructions encourage the development of new materials for the species. - Photo: KatiaPichelli

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) has just published the minimum descriptors of the forest species Araucaria angustifolia, as well as instructions for carrying out distinguishability, homogeneity and stability (DHE) tests of cultivars of the species and hybrids of the species with others of the genus Araucaria. This means that, from now on, producers and companies interested in working with Araucaria genetic improvement will be able to protect the new cultivars they develop.

“For Araucaria, this represents a very important step”, explains researcher Ivar Wendling, from Embrapa Florestas (PR), who was at the head of the group that created these minimum descriptors. “We believe that this publication will encourage rural producers and companies to plant new araucaria trees and, consequently, help to remove it from the list of endangered species”, he believes.

Why are descriptors important?

The descriptors bring together several morphological characteristics that serve to describe the cultivars and highlight their differences. With this, those interested in its cultivation will have more security regarding the material they are purchasing and planting, and those who develop new cultivars will have the guarantee of their protection. “Araucaria can be cultivated for both pine nuts and wood production and knowing what the cultivar provides is important for the producer”, explains Wendling.

According to Ricardo Zanatta Machado, Coordinator of Mapa's National Cultivar Protection Service (SNPC), the advantage of protection is that the holder now has the exclusive right to commercial exploitation of the cultivar's propagative material, with this activity being prohibited to third parties without the your authorization. “This, in a way, helps companies and institutions that develop new cultivars to recover part of the capital invested, encouraging them to contribute new investments in research, which will culminate in the continuous development of new cultivars for the benefit of society as a whole: called the virtuous cycle of innovation”, he explains.

Furthermore, for cultivars to be protected, they must meet technical criteria that are evaluated through field tests, and the DHE guidelines aim to establish the rules for conducting these tests, as well as the characteristics that must be evaluated. , in order to standardize evaluations between different breeders and enable comparisons between plants.

Interest of rural producers

In recent years, interest in Araucaria has been growing, according to the Embrapa researcher. However, rural producers still feel helpless due to a lack of technical information and legal security to establish commercial plantations. The protection of new cultivars can be a step towards increasing interest in their planting. “Conservation through use will both favor rural producers interested in Araucaria and help in its conservation, as more producers may feel encouraged to plant it”, adds Wendling. One of the important steps for this to happen is legal security and the protection of cultivars is part of this. “This will also stimulate a chain around araucaria, with nurseries producing and selling seedlings of registered and protected cultivars”, he predicts.

The work to develop the descriptors was an initiative by Embrapa Florestas, with support from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Federal University of Santa Catarina Curitibanos campus (UFSC), State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG) and State University of Santa Catarina (Udesc).

The DHE guidelines

The Araucaria descriptors table presents 23 items to be analyzed such as type of flowering, cycle until maturity of the pine nut, plant height, trunk diameter, characteristics of the needles, pine nuts (in the case of female plants) and strobiles (male plants) , quantity and insertion of whorls, among others. To arrive at the final list, the researchers observed, measured and analyzed more than 200 plants from Embrapa's clonal gardens and orchards and from plantations by partner producers.

Defining the descriptors took two years and involved intense work of adjustments, refinements and field checking of the proposed descriptors, obtaining photographs and preparing illustrations that serve as a basis for the analysis, in addition to virtual meetings.

historical framework

The SNPC was responsible for formatting the final document taking into account the guidelines of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) for the development of DHE guidelines. The Araucaria DHE guideline is the first to be published among UPOV member countries. With this work, Brazil becomes a reference in cooperation with other countries that may be interested in protecting cultivars of the species.

“The publication of the descriptors can be considered a very important historical milestone for the Brazilian forestry sector”, attests the researcher. Among the forest species cultivated in Brazil, in addition to Araucaria, Australian cedar, rubber tree, yerba mate, as well as some species of eucalyptus and pine have descriptors.

The protection request form is available on the Mapa website.

Protection requests

With the publication of the guidelines, it is now possible to file requests for protection of an araucaria cultivar, which comes into force from the date of granting of the Provisional Protection Certificate, for a period of 18 years. To meet the “novelty” requirement, established in Article 3 of Law 9.456/1997, the cultivar cannot have been offered for sale in Brazil more than twelve months ago in relation to the date of the protection request and, observing the period of commercialization in the country, may not have been offered for sale or marketed in other countries within six years.

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