This is especially important in breeding for public good characteristics, such as environmental quality and food security. New varieties of many staple crops grown in developing countries have come from public sector institutions. While developing countries may benefit from this exchange in the form of lower food prices, some countries maintain that this system is inequitable. The 1992 U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, designed to foster the preservation and equitable use of genetic resources worldwide, grants countries sovereign rights to their genetic resources collected after treaty ratification, allowing countries to sell genetic resources or to refuse access to other countries altogether. Finally, nonagricultural genetic resources also affect the ecosystems in which agriculture operates, another determinant of agricultural productivity.
Some genetic resources are imperative for agricultural production.
For example, many crops require or benefit from insect pollination, while a variety of micro-organisms enhance and promote soil productivity. In addition, well-functioning ecosystems protect watersheds, prevent soil erosion and flooding, store and recycle organic nutrients and industrial wastes, and help to regulate the climate. Technologies to Maintain Biological Diversity . Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources . Genebanks and the World's Food .