But if you listen to people actually in the know, they will tell you its more about market manipulation than the genetics themselves. The genetics are often begin, and include many beneficial things like blight resistance.

But it goes bad when you are locked into using specific chemicals bought from the the only company that also sells seeds. Or when a multinational company sues a farmer because of accidental hybridization with their propriety genetics. Or when a few companies have such a lock on crops with superior output, that you have no choice but to buy them, because it would mean bankruptcy otherwise.

There is no open source-like alternative for seeds.