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Monsanto’s Great Seed Robbery of India
“Seed sovereignty is the foundation of food sovereignty. Seed freedom is the foundation of food freedom. The great seed robbery threatens both. It must be stopped.” Monsanto’s crime against India is nothing short of devastating.
Dr. Vandana Shiva, director of the Navdanya Trust gives a chilling account of Monsanto’s many crimes. Monsanto owns most of seed market in India and other countries; see exact figures below.
Monsanto makes Indian farmers sign MoUs (memorandum of understanding) which are strikingly similar to the agreements American farmers must sign to do business with Monsanto. Indian farmers take all the liability even though Monsanto still maintains all property rights to the seed. Monsanto has cross-licensing arrangements with other big GM seed corporations and they share GM seed traits with each other. They do not compete with each other, but with the peasants over the seed supply.
Indian farmers wish to maintain seed resiliency, nutrients, and biodiversity, but Monsanto agreements and seed preclude all of that. India’s government-sanctioned corporate GM seed companies steal their genetic seed wealth and sell it back to farmers in an altered, useless form. Plus, Monsanto’s bonding with chemical companies warrants farmers’ dependence on more chemicals. Just more of the racket. The account below can hardly be touched with a few sentences; please read the greater details below.
~Health Freedoms
Great seed robbery
The seed, the source of life, the embodiment of our biological and cultural diversity, the link between the past and the future of evolution, the common property of past, present and future generations of farming communities who have been seed breeders, is today being stolen from the farmers and being sold back to us as “propriety seed” owned by corporations like the US-headquartered Monsanto.
Under pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office, various state governments are signing MoUs (memorandums of understanding) with seed corporations to privatise our rich and diverse genetic heritage. For example, the government of Rajasthan has signed seven MoUs with Monsanto, Advanta, DCM-Shriram, Kanchan Jyoti Agro Industries, PHI Seeds Pvt. Ltd, Krishidhan Seeds and J.K. Agri Genetics.
The Rajasthan government’s MoU with Monsanto, for example, focuses on maize, cotton, and vegetables (hot pepper, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower and water melon). Monsanto controls the cottonseed market in India and globally. Monsanto also controls 97 per cent of the worldwide maize market and 63.5 per cent of the genetically-modified (GM) cotton market. DuPont, in fact, had to initiate anti-trust investigations in the US because of Monsanto’s growing seed monopoly. Sixty Indian seed companies have licensing arrangements with Monsanto, which has the intellectual property on Bt. cotton.
In addition, Monsanto has cross-licensing arrangements with BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Sygenta and Dow to share patented, genetically-engineered seed traits with each other. The giant seed corporations are not competing with each other. They are competing with peasants and farmers over the control of the seed supply. And, in effect, monopolies over seed are being established through mergers and cross-licensing arrangements.
Monsanto, which controls 95 per cent of the cottonseed market, has pushed the price of seed from `7 per kg to `3,600 per kg, with nearly half being royalty payments. It was extracting `1,000 crores per annum as royalty from Indian farmers before Andhra Pradesh sued it in the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission.
The commodified seed is ecologically incomplete and ruptured at two levels: First, it does not reproduce itself, while, by definition, seed is a regenerative resource. Genetic resources are thus, through technology, transformed from a renewable into a non-renewable resource. Second, it does not produce by itself; it needs the help of purchased inputs. And, as the seed and chemical companies merge, the dependence on inputs will increase.
The failure of hybrid sunflower in Karnataka and hybrid maize in Bihar has cost poor farmers hundreds of crores of rupees. There are no liability clauses in the MoUs to ensure farmers’ rights and protection from seed failure. The seeds that will be used for essentially derived varieties by corporations like Monsanto are originally farmers’ varieties. The Farmers’ Rights and Plant Genetic Resources Act is a law to protect farmers’ rights, but nothing in the MoUs acknowledges, protects or guarantees farmers’ rights. It is, therefore, violative of the Farmers’ Rights Act.
The MoUs are one-sided and biased in favour of corporate intellectual property rights. The Monsanto MoU states: “Monsanto’s
Dr Vandana Shiva is an Indian physicist, environmentalist and recipient of the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize.
proprietary tools, techniques, technology, know-how and intellectual property rights with respect to the crops shall remain the property of Monsanto although utilised in any of the activities outlined as part of the MoU”. So the issue here is not technology, but seed monopoly.
What is being termed a public-private partnership (PPP) and is being conducted under the supervision of the state is, in fact, the great seed robbery. Rajasthan is an ecologically fragile area. Its farmers are already vulnerable. It is a crime to increase their vulnerability by allowing corporations to steal their genetic wealth and then sell them patented, genetically engineered, ill-adapted seeds. We must defend seeds as our commons. We must protect the seeds of life from the seeds of suicide.
Farmers breed for resilience and nutrition. Industrial breeding responds to intensive chemical and water inputs so that seed companies can increase profits. The future of the seed, the future of the food, the future of farmers lies in conservation of the biodiversity of our seed. Navdanya’s research also shows that biodiversity-based ecological agriculture produces more food than monocultures.
Hybrids and Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) produce less nutrition per acre and are vulnerable to climate change, pests and disease. Replacing agro-biodiversity with hybrid and GM crops is a recipe for food insecurity. The MoUs will, in effect, facilitate bio-piracy of Rajasthan’s rich biodiversity of drought-resilient crops, which become more valuable in times of climate change. By failing to have any clauses that respect the Biodiversity Act and the Farmers’ Rights Act, the MoUs promote biopiracy and legalise the great seed robbery.
According to the MoUs, private companies’ seed distribution will be based on “seed supply and distribution arrangements involving leverage of extensive government-owned network”. In other words, selling hybrids and then GMOs will be subsidised by allowing the use of public land for “technology demonstration farms to showcase products, technology and agronomic practices on land made available by the government of Rajasthan”.
Besides the handing over of seed and land, “Monsanto will be helped in the establishment of infrastructure towards the fulfilment of the collaboration objectives specified above through access to relevant capital subsidy and other schemes of the government of Rajasthan”.
While public resources will be freely given away to Monsanto as a subsidy, Monsanto’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) monopolies will be protected. This is an MoU for “Monsanto takes all, the public system gives all”. It is clearly an MoU for privatisation of our seed and genetic wealth, our knowledge, and a violation of farmers’ rights.
Seed sovereignty is the foundation of food sovereignty. Seed freedom is the foundation of food freedom. The great seed robbery threatens both. It must be stopped.
By Vandana Shiva
* Dr Vandana Shiva is the executive director of the Navdanya Trust
Sources:
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/great-seed-robbery-394
http://www.navdanya.org/
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This Company needs to be shut down before they do any more harm. This company threatens our very existence and the sovereignty of civil rights on food. I believe they threaten man kind, all nations and our food supply now and into the future. Even though they have designer seeds that have been manipulated it does not give them the right to claim any cross germination and the take over of crops through any agreement. We should not allow this massive takeover that we depend on so much.
GM seeds are the most toxic of pollutants that must be stopped. Not only is there scientific evidence of organ failure, premature aging, and autoimmune disease from ingesting GMO foods, their genetic traits can and will contaminate natural seeds and plants growing in the vicinity. Monsanto is an evil company who’s existence is based on lies. There is no reason to genetically modify anything, nature has provided us with perfect foods. Their GMO poison is heavily sprayed with glyphosphate and other chemicals causing even more harm to those who ingest their products. Pollinators such as bees, birds and bats are being poisoned from their practices. Their existence is an obscenity on this earth.
I so much agree with you Kelley! and even their “designer seeds” are polluted. No normal body can accept this kind of seed… they are probably paid by the pharmaceutical companies !
They are trying to make it impossible for anyone to grown any of their own food or plants of anykind without purchasing it thru them. Their plan is going to back fire on all of us. We will end up with no edible food and plants that won’t grow. It will cause famine’s and many deaths before they quit. It is kiling the pollinators, thereby comprising any other plants and seed they don’t already have the monoply on. I beleive it is going to get very bad. We need to all start purchasing seeds that are not genetically modifed while we still can and use and save them. There will be a time when we need them because of these large corporations. I worry for my GrandChildren and great grand Children who are alive now and will live to see this.
We need to start growing anything and everything we can with seeds of plants that have not been modifed and save a many seeds as possible
I have to protest that Monsanto taking advantage of Peruvian elections, passed a Decree 003-2011 on April 8, 2011, that allows import of GMO seeds in Peru. Our agricultors who produce 60% of our food in Peru will be affected by this shameful disposition. Augusto Urrutia president of the Consejo Directivo, of the ONG Peru Ecologico says that 35,000 organic producers will be affected. Also Cecilia Gianella of the Ecological, Tecnological and Cultural Asociation of the Andes, says that our agriculture will be contaminated and Monsanto will sue growers for not having license to use their GMO seeds.
Peru has more than 25,000 different species of plants and 30% of them are endemic in the process of extinction.
We have grown from 30 million dollars in 2000 to 220 million dollars in 2008 exporting ecological/organic agriculture.
Monsanto must leave our agriculture alone and stop their lies and aggressive intrution in our rich soil and biodiversity. Their impact will be a disaster to our cuisine, our health, and economy.
The US government is complicit in this takeover, and has part ownership in the terminator gene which prevents the plant from reproducing.
I think the issue to focus on is the greed (for both political and financial power) of this corporation (Monsanto) and it’s “allies” both in the corporate and political governmental realms which place money above life at great cost to the health to all peoples , living beings and the planet. These are the true villians in our current world: government and corporate henchmen working hand-in-hand; the dark force, an anti-life force. GMO plants and seed control are only one aspect!
Monsanto and others of like ilk are a constant thorn in my emotional serenity of which there is not much left. I would like to see Monsanto brought right down to the ground and 6 ft under, their enterprises totally penniless and the stupid agreements they make at the expense of the entire world made null and void. Off hand, if I were the farmer in question, I would meet any Monsanto personnel on my property with a baseball bat or whatever came to hand. But best hit them in court now. Huge class action suits could be brought against them in all countries where they do business. Here in the US there is now a court case against them which we must watch very closely and donate to whenever possible. It is being brought by the Farm-to-consumer Foundation. Anyway, check it out. The more of us who pay attention, the better it will be. They are right up there with nuclear power plants and oil spills in the oceans, and maybe Monsanto is the worst of the lot.
Please post a link to this article on social media and get the word out to inform people what is happening not only in India but globally.
Sorry! Can’t hold back. If we do not fight Monsanto with every resource we can muster, with diligence and unbridled commitment to the task of taking their sorry butts down, our planet will suffer a great blow.
The anger is well founded, if the facts about GMO are accurate. If the facts are accurate then why is Monsanto able to continue? Monsanto can only do what they are allowed to. Are all governments of the world so corrupt that Monsanto is allowed to continue? Is it possible that the greater problem is with the buyer’s ethics more than the seller’s.
Because Monsanto is in with the FDA, pharamceuticals, other seed companies and our wonderful government. How does one fight back? It takes all of us together and do you see that heppening?
Life on this planet is so inter-connected and miraculous;bio-diversity an inheritance not to be tampered with. Life has provided for us abundantly. We must find ,purchase and preserve our true natural seed stock for our children and beyond( when Monsanto’s experiment goes awry).
Does Monsanto have any doubt about what they are doing? What hubris.
We need to educate ourselves first, get involved spreading the world, and supporting the farmers not only in the US but from around the world.
United we can do a lot.
Shu,
Masterfully written…please check out http://www.ResponsibleTechnology.org We need to keep educating the American people !!!
What is behind this is eugenics…..but it will backfire on them when there is no one left to sell to.
DISGUSTING! When is enough enough? How much filthy money must you have to satisfy your depraved lust? I’m sickened to have to share the planet with monsters like Monstanto.
Why do people always write “Monsanto CONTROLS x% of whatever” Monsanto innovates, develops, tests, markets and sells a huge percentage of what’s on the market. And if you don’t like big yields, and do like large numbers of starving people/animals then go buy something else. Consider holding onto your non-hybrids as a long-term, contrarian investment. When it all goes kaput, you’ll be sitting on a gold mine. Until that time, stop trying to act like no one had a choice in their seed selection. Just because they’re selling, doesn’t mean you have to buy. Stop saying Monsanto “CONTROLS” everything, when producers control every choice in their production plan. May they finally take responsibility for those choices.