Actes de la Conférence > Contributions par auteur > Srinivasan Chandrasekaran

Reputation and Contemporary Quality: Research and Development in Unprocessed and Semi-processed Geographical Indication Products

The unprocessed and semi-processed agriculture product GI face greater dilemma in relation to crossbred or hybrid varieties. From a Plant Breeder or Scientist perspective, the product is a composition of cells, genes, DNA, etc. Creating different combination of new varieties may be in commercial interest to serve current stage of society but is nevertheless wrong. Is it a dilution of GI product and a shift from the pillar of (historic) reputation? Are such hybrid varieties contains contemporary reputation instead of historic reputation?

Today Scientists make genetic crosses and get hybrids for almost anything they wanted. They are able to create pure populations of strain with genetic complements that never before existed. They are directing the evolution of the strains so that they could adapt to novel conditions. No biological research in unprocessed and semi-processed agriculture product GI breeding has considered disadvantage of altering evolution or any research paper available on such distortions. The photoperiod sensitivity is an important trait in view of terroir, which is part of evolution. The alterations in sowing and harvesting period has made photoperiod sensitivity irrelavant to evolved varieties.

Quality is a particular expectation of performance and parameter. The Geographical Indication regulations, in general, invoke two terms such as “Given Quality” and “Specific Quality”. Both terms have their unique meaning and position. Given Quality sets pre-condition and basic standards whereas Specific Quality is more precise on the standards. The identical and constant quality is recognised for given quality. Does such “given quality” creates stagnation of product improvement and quality? When constant quality is irrelevant during evolution of environment and geography to impact on quality, there are numerous issues to be studied on “given quality”. ‘Given quality' having quite opposite situation in view of definition and natural process, this is a subject to distort reputation in long term over GI products until it is not addressed in general.

The consumer perception on quality in number of unprocessed and semi-processed products has shifted from traditional variety to evolved variety. It has created a new consumer perception and has provided nod to the new and contemporary quality instead of keeping historic quality intact. A major question emerges that whether GI products can have contemporary quality in view of shifting reputation? If contemporary quality is not accepted in a GI product, does it lead to genericity of a GI?