The Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) is dedicated to maintaining fair and open access to plant genetic resources worldwide to ensure the availability of germplasm to farmers, gardeners, breeders, and communities of this and future generations. OSSI engages in education and outreach that promotes sharing rather than restricting access to plant germplasm, recognizes and supports the work of plant breeders of all kinds, and supports a diversified and decentralized seed industry. The core strategy is disseminating the OSSI Pledge and OSSI-Pledged varieties, which preserve the rights of farmers, gardeners, and breeders to freely use, save, replant, and improve seed of pledged material.
Why It Matters: Increasing corporate consolidation and intellectual property restrictions on seeds threaten the fundamental ability of farmers, gardeners, and breeders to save, replant, and improve the genetic resources that feed humanity. By applying open source principles to plant germplasm—ensuring pledged seeds remain freely available in perpetuity—OSSI creates a protected commons that cannot be privatized or restricted by future patents. The support for a diversified and decentralized seed industry recognizes that food security depends on many breeders and seed producers serving diverse communities, not consolidated control over genetic resources that belong to current and future generations.
