GM crops are those artificially altered by randomly inserting select genetic fragments drawn from another organism or crop, usually of a different species. The technology is widely acknowledged to be imprecise. As the location of the transferred gene sequence in the host crop differs with each insertion, the consequences are uncertain. Lacking a natural slot to fit in, there is high instability of the foreign genetic fragment in the host.
While for patenting GM crops, their developers (commonly agri-business corporations) claim these to be novel creations, they adopt a diametrically opposite stand for their safety assessment, dubiously claiming “substantial equivalence” to the natural crops, despite much evidence to the contrary. This they do to avoid rigorous safety testing and labeling of the new GM crops, fearing consumer rejection. GM crops are overwhelmingly rejected in Europe and most parts of the world. Just a tiny minority of countries allow them. USA (home to Monsanto) alone grows half the world’s GM crops. Argentina and Brazil account for another 30%. Globally, over 99% of commercial GM crops are: soya, cotton, maize, canola – largely for animal feed, fibre or bio-fuel, rather than human food.
Bt Brinjal, the first GM food crop of its kind in the world, was stopped by huge public opposition from all sections of Indian people. Over a dozen States officially opposed it. Not one pleaded in its favour. Agriculture is constitutionally a State subject.
Worldwide, 99% of GM crops have just one or two traits: herbicide tolerance and insect resistance. Despite the hype from the industry, there is still not a single commercial GM crop with increased yield, drought-tolerance, salt-tolerance, enhanced nutrition or any of the other ‘beneficial’ traits long-promised by the industry. An estimated 90% of all GM crops contain a gene or trait patented by one single giant company – Monsanto. Other corporations into the business of GM crops include: Syngenta, Bayer, Du Pont and Dow. These 5 corporations are also the top pesticide/herbicide companies in the world. Already, nearly half the global trade in seeds is controlled by such MNCs that make no secret of their resolve to wrench total strategic control of world agriculture through control of seeds and other inputs.
In India, almost 80% farmers still save their own seeds, and hence, do not buy them. They are the custodians of a huge treasure of crop biodiversity. It is this section that the MNCs want to target. By severely contaminating the natural local seed varieties-through cross-pollination by their GM varieties they acquire immense power to dictate terms, gravely threatening the food security and sovereignty of our nation. The GM-industrial model that further increases chemical consumption and external dependence, results in ruinous destruction of vital ecological ‘capital’ – soil, biodiversity, groundwater – on which agriculture is fundamentally dependent, while reliance on non-renewable (and increasingly expensive) fossil fuels is extremely high. Such agriculture is totally unsustainable, energy inefficient and economically inviable. Though geographically smaller than USA, India has more than 200 times as many farmers, who are largely self-reliant. In USA, less than 2% of the people are engaged in agriculture. Most of the farmland is held by large corporations or big farmers, each of whom own thousands of hectares, or more, enjoying billions of dollars of agricultural subsidy each year — several thousand times higher (per capita/farmer) than in India!
Trying to ape the US model may thus create a quarter billion economic and ecological refugees in India. India is a signatory to ‘The World Agriculture Report’ by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), endorsed in 2008 by 60 countries, after four years of detailed study and deliberation by over 400 international scientists, experts and nearly 1,000 reviewers, supported by the World Bank, FAO, WHO, UNDP, UNEP, among others. The Report confirms that GM crops are not the answer to hunger, poverty or climate change. Rather, bio-diverse and ecologically sound, low-external-input and low-cost organic farming methods offer the best hope for ensuring a just and sustainable future for all.
Contributed by: bharatmansata@yahoo.com
Bharat Mansata is a writer-editor and environmental activist, particularly involved in ecological regeneration and organic farming. He has authored: (1) The Great Agricultural Challenge, (2) Organic Revolution, and (3) Pregnant with Poison (on Bt Brinjal), all published by Earthcare Books (www.earthcarebooks.com <http://www.earthcarebooks.com/> ). He has also edited ‘Ecological Vision’, published by DRCSC, Kolkata.
For the past 16 years, he is closely associated with a collective forest-farm, Vision Acres (Van Vadi), which has grown into a rich forest – dense, tall and high in biodiversity. Located in the foothills of the Sahyadris, it is a source of joy and inspiration to visitors. The rainwater harvesting and organic farming too have been quite successful, as also initiatives in non-formal environmental/Nature learning.
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- Organic Agriculture: From The Indian Farmers Viewpoint
- A model village in the making – Chinna Jalapuram
- My concerns for “Bt” and hope for “Brinjal”
- Harvesting Despair – Perspectives
- Energy Security in the aftermath of Deferred Nuclear Liability Bill
