b'Penny Maplestone Has the Perfect Job, Sees Brexit as a Dark Nebulous CloudWHEN IT COMES TO THE UK LEAVING THE EU, THE REAL ISSUE IS THE COMPLETE UNCERTAINTY: ARE WE LEAVING? WHEN ARE WE LEAVING? ON WHAT TERMS ARE WE LEAVING? BY: MARC ZIENKIEWICZE uropean Seeds sister publication, Seed World, satcollection system is one of the best in the world and has helped down with Penny Maplestone, chief executive of theto put the UK close to the top of the list globally as one of the British Society of Plant Breeders, to discuss that dreadedbest countries to do plant breeding business. B-word, and how plant breeders can prepare for Britains seem- Of course, we dont want to stand still. All the time we are ingly inevitable exit from the European Union. Interview con- thinking strategically and looking to the future. The industry ducted at the International Seed Federations 2019 World Seedis evolving, and we want to make sure that we are offering our Congress in Nice, France. members top quality services that will support them for years to come.EUROPEAN SEED (ES): HOW DID YOU GET INTO PLANT BREEDING AND WHAT GETS YOU UP IN THE MORNING?PENNY MAPLESTONE (PM):I have always been in love with plants, right back from when I was a small child out on walks inUK politicians have spent the countryside with my parents, wanting to find out the namesthe past 3 years playing party of all the wonderful wildflowers we saw. That love has stayed with me through my whole life. There was never any questionpolitics, looking for individual I would study anything but botany once I had found out how critical plants are for everything in life; how they feed us, give& personal gain, rather than us feed for our animals, clothe and shelter us, and even produceworking together to achieve an the oxygen in the air that we breathe.I learned about plant breeding and plant breeders, howorderly exit that is good for the plant breeders take plants which are already incredibleand make them even better, how they improve yield, pest and dis- country & business.ease resistance, and quality, making crops better adapted to our human needs. I did my first degreeand this is going to date me a bitjust at the time that plant molecular biology was born, and the first transgenic plants were made.That was a real wow moment for me, and the possibilities seemed endless.ES: I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A BIG ISSUE THAT I spent a little time doing research but turned out not toIS ON EVERYONES MIND: BREXIT. AS A BRITISH be very good at it. I didnt think it would benefit either me orPLANT BREEDER, HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO science if I stayed with it, so I needed to look for something thatHEAR THAT WORD AND WHY?was going to keep me close to plants but use my other skills. A job at BSPB was advertised. I thought I could do that and I mustPM:For me, Brexit it like a black nebulous cloud rolling in from have been right as I have now been there more than 20 years.the horizon towards me. Every so often it recedes a little, but It really is the perfect job. Its a wonderful mixture of plantsinexorably it is coming and at some point, it is going to hit me as and politics and people. Every day is different. I get out of bed ina reality. On a personal level, I feel sad about Brexit, I feel sad the morning happy in the knowledge that I am off to work withthat the UK has chosen to leave the European Union. I voted my fantastic team at BSPB and that we are supporting an indus- to remain and when Im working in ISF and ESA with my col-try which is genuinely making a positive difference in the world. leagues from other EU countries, it makes me genuinely sad that, although we will still work together, it will never be quite ES: WHAT DOES THE BSPB LOOK LIKE TODAY? CANthe same.YOU GIVE US A SNAPSHOT OF THAT? On a professional level, it makes me frustrated and angry, not so much that we are leaving the EU, as that is what the PM:The BSPB looks good today. We are in our 53rd year, we havemajority of the UK people voted for, but that our UK politicians 72 members, which is more than we have ever had before, andhave spent the past three years playing party politics and look-thats at a time when the industry is consolidating, so I am quiteing for individual and personal gain, rather than getting on and proud of that. Our services to members are excellent. An ISFworking together in the national interest to achieve an orderly study showed that our combined royalty and farm-saved seedexit that will be good for the country and good for business. 38IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'