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The tsunami waves damaged the cooling system of the reactors that started uncontrollable
meltdown process. That led to release of lethal radiation in the form of Strontium-90 and Iodine-
131 that has been found at high enough levels as far as France and now covers the entire United
States. The radiation spread all over the world by 15th March and India is also receiving high dose.
Senior scientists have warned that the situation is so bad in Japan that the entire Tokyo region with 40
million people may have to be evacuated; others are advocating evacuation of the entire Japanese
population to safer regions. The Government of India has already instructed Port Authorities to test all
ships originating from Japanese ports because the ships and their consignments will be radioactive.
The Japanese accident had to happen. The technology for generating electricity using uranium has time
and time again proven to be unsafe. Every nuclear reactor is now a ticking nuclear bomb; similar explosion
can happen is any of the 400-odd operational reactors. It can happen to any reactor located on fault zones
and especially those located on the coasts because of vulnerability to natural disasters. Underplaying such
possibilities is essentially a public lie.
The second source of contamination is coming from illegal planting of Genetically Modified seeds. In an
asinin example of bravado, one of GM seeds companies, had the temerity to plant GM corn adjacent to Bihar
Chief Minister's ancestral farm in Bihar. When he was told that GM maize has been planted he spoke with
Sharad Pawar to stop this sort of illegal planting. Sharad Pawar has been insisting on allowing GM crops to be
planted. Then Nitish Kumar called up Jairam Ramesh under whose Ministry comes Genetic Engineering
Approval Committee. Despite Jairam Ramesh directive to stop this sort of illegal planting, how GEAC is
conducting the trials right under the nose of powerful Chief Minister remains shrouded in mystery. The
GEAC and the entire group of scientists working for the GM seeds multinational corporations are pushing
for a new GM technology Bill against the wishes of majority of farmers and the wishes of the Indian civil
society.
Contamination from GM seeds is irreversible; no technology exists to decontaminate natural seeds. This
sort of large scale contamination is a proven fact and it is a deliberate act on part of seeds corporations to
contaminate every natural seeds worldwide. They don't want to leave any option to consumers who would
like to eat natural foods grown from natural seeds. Such irresponsible behavior amounts to subjecting
world's population to the largest biological experiment without our consent. And this biological
experiment, that will destroy the natural environment and human and animal health, the Government of
India is actively colluding.
The two sources of contaminations one radiological and the other biological- have the property of
altering natural genetic structure of all living things. Both are known to cause degenerative diseases and
environmental destruction on massive scale. The two events show how science itself has been
enslaved to serve corporate interest.
Editor :
April - 2011
Ambitious Trade Liberalisation and Indian Agriculture:
Proposed EU-India Free Trade Agreement
* Ranja Sengupta
Agriculture remains a sensitive issue in India with Considering that the FTAs in general and North-South
almost 70% of its population still directly dependent FTAs in particular, move towards a WTO plus
on it. Indian agriculture, unlike big capital based framework for agriculture, the impact of such
European agriculture, revolves around numerous liberalisation on this sector remains critical. In
small farmers who earn their livelihoods from addition, this particular FTA brings together many
cultivating small plots of land, and with limited access interlinked chapters all of which can have a combined
to resources like water, seed and fertiliser. 83695 and cumulative impact on not only the way India
thousand marginal farmers (those own less than 1 trades but on its entire production and distribution
hectare of land) who represent 65% of farmers in systems.
India, own only 20% of total land, with an average
holding size of 0.38 hectares2. Only 46.13% of the There are several features of this FTA that must be
area under such holdings receives any form of looked at in detail in order to have an understanding of
irrigation3. Rural poverty estimates vary between the possible consequences on Indian agriculture.
28.3% and 87%4.
The Provisions in EU-India FTA and Impact on
The agriculture sector also has a higher proportion of Agriculture
women workers compared to other sectors. Tribal,
indigenous communities also form a sizeable chunk. India's current agricultural trade is low and accounts
All these are constituencies with low education, skills for only 2.9% of its merchandise imports. But that is
and low productive resources. also because India still imposes quite a high applied
The structure of this FTA benefits Indian services It can heighten land grabbing in resource rich areas,
compared to agriculture and even manufacturing. thus taking away critical access to cultivable land and
Even within services, the benefits are likely to accrue other productive resources from tribal, indigenous and
only to skilled areas such as IT & banking. rural communities. It can even threaten the survival of
our agriculture based industrial sectors by starving
With literacy rate just above 60%, the lack of these them of raw material through investment and removal
skills among large sections of the population, of export taxes.
especially among farmers and agricultural workers,
makes it difficult for them to shift between sectors. Services and Public Procurement
They will most likely end up among India's growing The liberalisation of retail services can also put
informal workers which accounts for 92% of India's pressure on small farmers' livelihoods. Not only do
total employment (420 million) and poverty among big supermarkets ask for very high standards and
non-agricultural unorganized workers (both men and reject produce on grounds of not meeting that quality,
women) is estimated at 20.6 per cent (NCEUS 2007). they can gradually take away farmer's access to local
Women are special victims of such shifts. markets. Sometimes farmers are initially given high
prices but with increasing dependence on big buyers
TRIPS plus Intellectual Property Rights from retail chains, the prices have often come down.
The EU has been quite insistent on its requirement for In addition, if government procurement is liberalised
TRIPS plus IP protection. This affects not only issues in India, then special acquisition from farmers for the
like access to cheap medicines by threatening India's Public Distribution System (PDS) may also become
generic production of medicines, there but agriculture difficult and European producers will have to be given
and food related issues as well. equal treatment to this mechanism which essentially
provides price support to Indian farmers.
For example ratifying UPOV 1991 according to EU's
demands, will prevent Indian farmers from saving, The Global Agricultural Market and India's Food
using and freely exchanging seeds. In addition, Economy
provisions under the present law, such as the
registration of extant and farmers' varieties and What this does to India's food economy and food
benefit sharing provisions to compensate farmers' for security are also urgent questions. In a situation of
their innovations will also be threatened. volatile global market, speculation in agricultural
commodities and a still persisting food crisis,
In addition, the IPR text also includes patent term depending on imported food and curtailing the ability
extension by five years which also refers to plant of domestic producers to produce their own food may
protection products (Correa 2009). Such measures not be prudent options.
Alternative information shows the deal is expected to Final sensitive lists are not made public, and there has
be concluded March/ April or June this year. However been almost no effort on the part of the government to
final signing may have to wait till the end of the year. prepare affected stakeholders for dealing with the
While a lot of the talks in agriculture and NAMA are impact of such agreements.
now over, differences remain over some sensitive
segments like dairy, poultry, wines and spirits. The political process surrounding such negotiations
remains undemocratic and non-transparent. There is
It is obvious that EU will not give up on its demands in no parliamentary oversight and ratification of this and
the agriculture sector. EU also wants its agricultural other FTAs in India.
GIs (highly relevant to wines and spirits) to be
recognised in exchange for recognition of India's non- Even state (or provincial) governments are not
agricultural Gis. consulted in this process nor are their ratifications
mandatory. This is in conflict with the fact that
This can also be a problem because India's agriculture is a 'state subject' in India11 . In Europe
underdeveloped IP system in agriculture cannot while the European Parliament has ratification
compete with EU's well advanced system of IP mandate, their ability to ask for changes in the text
recognition. In exchange for giving significant market remains limited.
access India wants an asymmetrical package from EU
on agriculture. In conclusion, the EU-India FTA is expected to have
significant impact on livelihoods, access to food and
This consists of longer implementation periods and productive resources in Indian agriculture, especially
asymmetrical coverage expressed. However, EU of the poor and marginalised.
actually wants India to improve its offer on tariff line
coverage, and increase its offer to 95%. That such an important policy measure can be
introduced without transparent and extensive
While subsidies are still off limits, discussions are still consultations with stakeholders undermines Indian
continuing on safeguards such as special products and democracy.
the special safeguard mechanism.
In terms of EU's trade policy, the joint perusal of CAP
On the non tariff barrier front, India wants more from and the demands made in its FTAs with developing
EU on conformity assessment which has been a major countries seriously undermines EU's image of being
problem for Indian exporters in the past. supportive of sustainable development in the Third
World.
The Process of Negotiations and the Indian
Democracy EU's insistence on including agriculture belies the
European Commission's claims that agriculture is not
The lack of consultation and transparency during the a major issue in the negotiations.
process of these negotiations has been a consistent
worry to CSOs and development policy analysts. The It is clear that EU recognises that it is a hugely
lack of consultation with all stakeholders, especially sensitive sector for India in terms of its livelihood and
vulnerable groups like farmers, indigenous groups, food security implications, but is still continuing with
women, patients groups, MSMEs, have been a feature aggressive demands in this sector.
of such FTA negotiations.
In India and EU, neither the draft text nor the impact * Senior Researcher, Third World Network
Needless to say, the recent deregulation of GE alfalfa Based on the current evidence, the only reasonable
is something to think about, because that will action at this time would be to delay deregulation at
dramatically increase the use of Roundup on animal least until sufficient data has exonerated the RR
feed and the feeding of Roundup Ready crops to our system, if it does.
livestock. There is more to be said on this, but I want
to tread carefully and stick to facts that I can confirm, For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the
so stay tuned. professional and military agencies that evaluate and
prepare for natural and manmade biological threats,
Open letter of Dr. Don Huber: including germ warfare and disease outbreaks.
Dear Secretary Vilsack: Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are
facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk
A team of senior plant and animal scientists have status. In layman's terms, it should be treated as an
recently brought to my attention the discovery of an emergency.
electron microscopic pathogen that appears to
significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and A diverse set of researchers working on this problem
probably human beings. have contributed various pieces of the puzzle, which
together presents the following disturbing scenario:
Based on a review of the data, it is widespread, very
serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Unique Physical Properties
Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and corn-suggesting
It is found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready It is urgent to examine whether the side-effects of
soybean meal and corn, distillers meal, fermentation glyphosate use may have facilitated the growth of this
feed products, pig stomach contents, and pig and pathogen, or allowed it to cause greater harm to
cattle placentas. weakened plant and animal hosts.
Linked with Outbreaks of Plant Disease It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil
pathogens and is already implicated with the increase
The organism is prolific in plants infected with two of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant
pervasive diseases that are driving down yields and defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces
farmer income-sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soy, the bioavailability of nutrients in feed, which in turn
and Goss' wilt in corn. The pathogen is also found in can cause animal disorders.
the fungal causative agent of SDS (Fusarium solani
fsp glycines). To properly evaluate these factors, we request access
to the relevant USDA data. I have studied plant
Implicated in Animal Reproductive Failure pathogens for more than 50 years.
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of
organism in a wide variety of livestock that have increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders.
experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding
Preliminary results from ongoing research have also and solving this problem.
been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting.
It deserves immediate attention with significant
The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical
infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past agricultural infrastructure.
few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse
operations. These include recent reports of infertility Sincerely,
rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous
abortions in cattle as high as 45%. COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber
Emeritus Professor, Purdue University
For example, 450 of 1,000 pregnant heifers fed APS Coordinator, USDA National Plant Disease
wheatlege experienced spontaneous abortions. Over Recovery System (NPDRS)
the same period, another 1,000 heifers from the same
herd that were raised on hay had no abortions.
Http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/4523/resear
High concentrations of the pathogen were confirmed cher-glyphosate-roundup-or-roundup-ready-
on the wheatlege, which likely had been under weed crops-may-cause-animal-miscarriages
management using glyphosate.
seed breeders is today being stolen from the farmers Instead of breeding and distributing public varieties,
and being sold back to us as “propreity” seed, owned the state agriculture universities are acting against
by corporations like Monsanto. their public mandate and violating the public interst
by facilitating the privatization of the seed supply.
Under pressure of the Prime Minister's Office (which
in turn is under the pressure of the White House Brainwashing by Monsanto based on “guest lectures
because of signing the U.S India Agriculture by Monsanto's global experts and scientists” is being
Agreement) the States are signing MOU's with seed labeled as “knowledge transfer”.
corporations to privatise our rich and diverse genetic
heritage. Selling hybrids and then GMOs is being subsidized by
using public land for “Technology demonstration
The Government of Rajasthan has signed seven farms to showcase products technology and
MOU's with Monsanto, Advanta, DCM-Sriram, agronomic practices on land made available by the
Kanchan Jyoti Agro Industries, PHI Seeds Pvt. Ltd, Government of Rajasthan”.
Krishidhan Seeds and J.K. Agri Genetics.
Besides the handing over seed and land, “Monsanto
While what is being undertaken is a great seed will be helped in the establishment of infrastructure
robbery under the supervision of the State, it is being towards the fulfillment of the collaboration objectives
called PPP - Private Public Partnership. specified above through access to relevant capital
subsidy and other schemes of the Government of
The MOU with Monsanto focuses on Maize, Cotton, Rajasthan”.
and vegetables (hot pepper, tomato, cabbage,
cucumber, cauliflower, water melon). While public resources will be made available to
Monsanto as a subsidy, “Monsanto's propriety tools,
It will in effect hand over to Monsanto millennia of techniques, technology and knowhow and intellectual
breeding by farmers. The State will subsidize property rights with respect to the crops shall remain
Monsanto's breeding. the property of Monsanto although utilized in any of
the activities outlines as part of the MOU.”
It will allow Monsanto's propaganda to replace
extension by promoting “awareness building This is clearly an MOU for privatization of our seed
activities under Monsanto's “gurukulam” training and genetic wealth, and a violation of farmers rights.
package with recommended package of practices for The seed supply that the agriculture universities are
Rajasthan”. handing over to Monsanto are not the property of the
state, nor of Monsanto. They are the common property
The State infrastructure will thus function for of farming communities.
promotional activities of the companies. The private
companies seed distribution will be based on “seed While the Government of Rajasthan has signed seven
supply and distribution arrangements involving MOU's, in the final analysis it is the MNC's who will
leverage of extensive government owned network”. control he seed by buying out local companies or
locking them in licensing arrangements.
Overheated fuel risks hydrogen or steam explosions Fukushima I-4's spent fuel alone, while in the reactor,
that damage equipment and contaminate the whole had produced (over years, not in an instant) more than
site--so clustering many reactors together (to save a hundred times more fission energy and hence
money) can make failure at one reactor cascade to the radioactivity than both 1945 atomic bombs.
rest.
If that already-damaged fuel keeps overheating, it
Nuclear power is uniquely unforgiving: as Swedish may melt or burn, releasing into the air things like
Nobel physicist Hannes Alfvén said, "No acts of God cesium-137 and strontium-90, which take several
can be permitted." centuries to decay a millionfold. Unit 3's fuel is spiked
with plutonium, which takes 482,000 years.
Fallible people have created its half-century history of
a few calamities, a steady stream of worrying Nuclear power is the only energy source where
incidents, and many near-misses. America has mishap or malice can kill so many people so far away;
beenlucky so far. the only one whose ingredients can help make and
hide nuclear bombs; the only climate solution that
Had Three Mile Island's containment dome not been substitutes proliferation, accident, and high-level
built double-strength because it was under an airport radioactive waste dangers. Indeed, nuclear plants are
landing path, it may not have withstood the 1979 so slow and costly to build that they reduce and retard
accident's hydrogen explosion. In 2002, Ohio's Davis- climate protection.
Besse reactor was luckily caught just before its
massive pressure-vessel lid rusted through. Here's how. Each dollar spent on a new reactor buys
about 2-10 times less carbon savings, 20-40 times
Regulators haven't resolved these or other key safety slower, than spending that dollar on the cheaper,
issues, such as terrorist threats to reactors, lest they faster, safer solutions that make nuclear power
The last two made 18% of the world's 2009 electricity Competitive renewables, cogeneration, and efficient
(while nuclear made 13%, reversing their 2000 use can displace all U.S. coal power more than 23
shares)--and made over 90% of the 2007-08 increase times over--leaving ample room to replace nuclear
in global electricity production. power's half-as-big-as-coal contribution too--but we
need to do it just once.
Those smarter choices are sweeping the global energy
market. Half the world's new generating capacity in Yet the nuclear industry demands ever more lavish
2008 and 2009 was renewable. subsidies, and its lobbyists hold all other energy
efforts hostage for tens of billions in added ransom,
In 2010, renewables, excluding big hydro dams, won with no limit.
$151 billion of private investment and added over 50
billion watts (70% the total capacity of all 23 Japan, for its size, is even richer than America in
Fukushima-style U.S. reactors) while nuclear got zero benign, ample, but long-neglected energychoices.
private investment and kept losing capacity. Perhaps this tragedy will call Japan to global
leadership into a post-nuclear world.
Supposedly unreliable windpower made 43-52% of
four German states' total 2010 electricity. Non- And before America suffers its own Fukushima, it too
nuclear Denmark, 21% windpowered, plans to get should ask, not whether unfinanceably costly new
entirely off fossil fuels. Hawai'i plans 70% reactors are safe, but why build any more, and why
renewables by 2025. keep running unsafe ones.
In contrast, of the 66 nuclear units worldwide China has suspended reactor approvals. Germany just
officially listed as "under construction" at the end of shut down the oldest 41% of its nuclear capacity for
2010, 12 had been so listed for over 20 years, 45 had study. America's nuclear lobby says it can't happen
no official startup date, half were late, all 66 were in here, so pile on lavish new subsidies.
centrally planned power systems--50 of those in just
four (China, India, Russia, South Korea)--and zero A durable myth claims Three Mile Island halted U.S.
were free-market purchases. Since 2007, nuclear nuclear orders. Actually they stopped over a year
growth has added less annual output than just the before--dead of an incurable attack of market forces.
costliest renewable--solar power --and will probably
never catch up. No doubt when nuclear power's collapse in the global
marketplace, already years old, is finally
While inherently safe renewable competitors are acknowledged, it will be blamed on Fukushima.
walloping both nuclear and coal plants in the
marketplace and keep getting dramatically cheaper, While we pray for the best in Japan today, let us hope
nuclear costs keep soaring, and with greater safety its people's sacrifice will help speed the world to a
precautions would go even higher. safer, more competitive energy future.
At stake are human and animal health, sustainability of future generations, conservation of flora and fauna
including aquatic life forms, indeed the entire ecosystem and the very survival of earth as natural living system.
The issues at stake concern our food security and food sovereignty won for us over 8,000 years by our farmers.
The issues at stake concern our food habits and culture, our essential way of life. These statements may sound
dramatic at first sight; however, by the time you have considered all the evidences which I can submit for your
perusal on demand, you may find them factual and truthful.
Contamination: Open field trials have caused widespread contamination of natural seeds with alien GM traits.
The contaminated food crops contained genetically modified organisms in stable and toxic form. Not only same-
specie but trans-species [horizontal] contamination is also a scientifically established fact. Cross-pollination
between 'engineered' specie and natural plants is causing havoc worldwide. This contamination is irreversible.
Decontamination is impossible. Once our seeds are contaminated with GM organisms, the contamination will
be in perpetuity.
Illegal planting is widespread; legal open field trials are merely a ruse to fool the farmers and the people. 39
countries reported contamination from illegal plantings in 2005. [Map 1]
Loss to farmers: Since Ag-biotech is an imperfect science, very frequently GM seeds do not germinate and
farmers are forced to bear the loss. These seeds also require proprietary pesticides despite claims that the crops
would be pest-resistant. The US and Canadian farmers have reported 16 times increase in the use of chemicals to
protect Biotech crops. In India there are more suicides among farmers who have opted for Bt Cotton seed [Bt
seeds are genetically engineered seeds containing Bacillus thurengeinsis genes]. Mixed seeds are also sold to
them (traditional mixed with GM); after only a few years they can't obtain a harvest: their seeds do not germinate
[Minimum germination should be 85% or more]. The technology for producing 'Traitor' and 'Terminator' seeds
is also commercially available. Many American rice exporters lost millions of dollars when their rice tested
positive at European ports. EU, Russia and Japan have zero tolerance for GM crops. The Russian Government
demanded sovereign guarantee from the Government of India that its rice does not contain GMOs. Open field
trials will expose our farmers to undesirable contamination which will cause huge revenue loss.
Loss to organic farmers: Farmers who have adopted organic or natural method of farm management are most
threatened. German organic farmers sought an increase in contamination level from 0.1% to 0.9% [nine times
increase] because their crops are increasingly getting contaminated with GMOs and the high cost of testing at
Adverse health impacts: The adverse impact on health and the environment has also been established. GM
foods cause sterility, infant mortality, organ defects, multiple organ failure, childhood diseases, fetal
abnormality, mild to severe allergies; about 65 diseases have been traced to foods containing GM ingredients.
In the only human study to date [Sussex University] seven terminally ill patients volunteered to eat GM food.
After just one meal toxins with specific traits were found to have contaminated human gut bacteria [friendly
bacteria that aid digestion] and were found in colon in stable and active form. Sheep grazing on Bt Cotton field in
Vidarbha died mysteriously. Autopsy report showed multiple organ failure.
“All these commercialized cultivated GMOs have been modified to contain pesticides, either through herbicide
tolerance or by producing insecticides, or both, and could therefore be considered as “pesticide plants.” Almost
all GMOs only encode these two traits despite claims of numerous other traits…… Genetic modifications can
induce global changes in the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, or metabolomic profiles of the host…..We can
conclude, from the regulatory tests performed today, that it is unacceptable to submit 500 million Europeans and
several billions of consumers worldwide to the new pesticide GM-derived foods or feed, this being done without
more controls (if any) than the only 3-month-long toxicological tests and using only one mammalian species”
[Giles Seralini et.al]
In his classic 'Seeds of Destruction,' William Engdahl, cites the example of a German farmer Gottfried
Glockner's experience with GM corn. Glockner planted Bt176 event of Syngenta essentially as feed for his
cows. Being a scientist, he started with 10% GM feed and gradually increased the proportion, carefully noting
milk yield and any side effects. Nothing much happened in the first three years but when he increased the feed to
100% GM feed, his animals "were having gluey-white feaces and violent diarrhea" and "milk contained blood."
Eventually all his seventy cows died. Prof Angelika Hilbeck of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology found
from Glockner's Bt 176 corn samples Bt toxins were present "in active form and extremely stable." The cows
died of high dose of toxins. Nitish ji, slow and painful death of humans and animals will become the biggest
problem in years to come.
Not if, but when human food is 100% contaminated should be a sobering thought.
Potential adverse impact on Home Remedies, Ayurvedic, and Unani: India is known worldwide for its
wisdom in the uses of medicinal herbs. That wisdom gave rise to the 'Little Tradition' of folk and home remedies
and eventually codified into the 'Great Traditions' of Ayurvedic and Unani systems. These systems rely heavily
on natural plant material. Since horizontal contamination is an established fact, only time will tell how our mega-
biodiversity of medicinal plants have been contaminated and if they would work as intended by our 'Little' and
'Great' Traditions of Healthcare.
Monopolistic control over global seeds' supply: The Ag-biotech industry is dominated by just five TNCs:
Monsanto, Bayer, Dow Chemicals, DuPont and Syngenta. Monsanto has major market share globally of all
transgenic seeds, particularly of food and fodder crops. These TNCs have been systematically taking over small
seeds companies and forcing others to discontinue production of natural hybrids. Two years ago American rice
farmers were forced to plant GM seeds because natural hybrids were not available in the market. Monsanto
Corporation has boldly stated that all of the seeds on the planet will be transgenic in 10 - 15 years' time.
The Regulatory Environment and Geo-politics of Seeds: The sole purpose of producing GE or GM seeds is to
patent seeds and eventually all life forms. It is now well known that GM seeds neither increase yield nor enhance
nutrition and yet these seeds are being pushed onto hapless nations and poor farmers.
In order to ensure that these MNCs had absolute control over global seeds supply, Intellectual Property Rights
[IPR] regime was forced upon the world while simultaneously laws curbing monopolies and restrictive trade
practices were diluted. In order to enforce the IPR regime, World Trade Organization [WTO] was knocked into
shape: how they take decisions remains shrouded in mystery. The patent for 'Terminator' seeds, seeds that only
germinate after certain proprietary chemicals are added, is jointly held by US Government and Monsanto
Corporation. Henry Kissinger commissioned National Security Study Memo #200 [NSSM200] in 1974 and in
this report he targets 13 developing countries including India and advocates the use of food as weapon. When the
technology for gene splicing and patenting of life forms was allowed in 1978 by the US Supreme Court, the
Kissinger Plan could be transformed into realistic operational possibility by just one US
corporation….Monsanto. Monsanto is the Trojan horse.
If I could summarize the nature of Agriculture Biotechnology [or Ag-biotech] in one sentence, it would be: GM
seeds are weapons of mass destruction [WMD]. They are designed as such and that in essence is the geo-
politics of seeds. Today, the situation is that five TNCs, the producers of transgenic seeds, quite simply can
arrange hunger and mass culling at any point on the planet (even in Russia and China), by simply refusing
to sell seeds to the country. To add to farmers' woe, we are not producing natural hybrids in substantial quantity
and farmers don't save seeds, largely a gift of the Green Revolution.
The Regulators and Conflict of Interest: The GEAC has been packed with pro-industry persons, few have any
serious credentials. Most have direct stake in promoting GM seeds; some are even related to owners of GM
seeds' firms. Despite many exposes, they continue to hold positions in this regulatory body. [Annex 1]
I have written many articles published worldwide, appeared on national TV-channels in India, Pakistan and
Nepal, and spoken all over India; people are scared, media is silent, governments complicit, and regulators
utterly compromised. And I have often said that if these TNCs can be stopped by any, it'd be either the people of
Bihar or Kerala or both. Now I hear that the Left Government of Kerala has allowed genetically engineered crops
to be planted there. That leaves Bihar's farmers alone to battle it out. If the farmers of Bihar lose out to this latest
onslaught on our food security and food sovereignty, rest assured that India will too. The only way to deal with
them is to detect contamination and have the perpetrators arrested and jailed without giving them a chance for
out of court settlement as happened in Percy Schmeiser vs. Monsanto, Canadian Supreme Court. Schmeiser, a
farmer, agreed to an out of court settlement.
All I expect from you is to save Bihar, perhaps set an example for the rest of India to follow, to stop the historical
mistake of allowing one company enslaving India; in the 18th Century it was East India Company, today it is
Monsanto. The style has not changed; the covenants have not changed. India was a prize then; India continues to
remain the prized last frontier to be conquered by destroying its food growing capability.
Kind regards
A new trend became apparent on their stands: BioFach Japan, Tokyo: 1-3 Nov. 2011
Whereas the companies had previously concentrated BioFach India, Bangalore:10-12 Nov. 2011
more on raw material trade, they also presented a
number of semi-finished and finished products this
year. In this context, more people are interested in Www.oneco.biofach.de
organic baby food, natural textiles, body care,
I suspect most would scream, "No way!” Corporate-controlled seeds are undemocratic
But these corporate-controlled seeds pose an even
Yet, while America seems allergic to public servants graver threat:
with no profit motive in mind controlling anything
these days, a knee-jerk faith in the "free market" has Both the technology and economy of GM crops are
led to overwhelming centralized control of nearly all intrinsically anti-democratic. What's wrong with
our food stuffs, from farm to fork. having a few corporations control virtually every
aspect of our sustenance? Far from abstract, the
The Obama administration's recent decision to genetic and proprietary control of our diets by a
radically expand genetically modified (GM) food handful of companies (Monsanto, DuPont, and
approving unrestricted production of agribusiness Syngenta combined own an astounding 47 percent of
biotech company Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" the global seed market) directly robs consumers and
alfalfa and sugar beets marks a profound deepening farmers of the most basic right to choose what they
of this centralization of food production in the hands will eat and grow.
of just a few corporations, with little but the profit
motive to guide them. The entire concept of creating and selling patented
GM seeds is based on proprietary corporate
Even as United States Department of Agriculture control:
(USDA) officials enable a tighter corporate grip on
the food chain, there is compelling evidence of GM The seeds are non-replenishing and must be
foods' ecological and human health risks, suggesting purchased anew each season, eliminating the time-
we should at very least learn more before allowing honored farmer tradition of saving and re-using seeds.
their spread.
Anyone doubting Monsanto's obsession with control
Numerous peer-reviewed studies suggest these crops can just ask just ask the thousands of farmers who
the result of reformulating plant and animal genes, have been sued and spied upon for alleged "seed
with minimal oversight and no food labeling piracy" at least 2,391 farmers in 19 states through
disclosures increase allergens in the food supply. 2006, according to Monsanto website documents
obtained by the Washington, DC-based Center for
And according to the World Health Organization, Food Safety (CFS).
"The movement of genes from GM plants into
conventional crops...may have an indirect effect on A report by CFS, using company records, found that
food safety and food security. "Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million
dollars and a staff of 75 devoted solely to investigating
This risk is real, as was shown when traces of a maize and prosecuting farmers.”
The USDA, and even some leaders of the organics Food Safety Act: five food recalls that rattled the
business such as Whole Foods and Stonyfield Farms, industry
endorse the notion of "coexistence" between GM and
organic crops a comforting yet flawed claim. Genetically centralized control over seeds and the
future of our food supply isn't inevitable. Over 80
Numerous organic farmers have reported the towns across the state of Vermont, and numerous
unwanted arrival of GM seeds contaminating their counties across the country have approved moratoria
fields, rendering organic crops unmarketable. on GM crops.
Even more troubling, "Roundup Ready" and other Monsanto has encountered mass farmer and political
herbicide-resistant seeds by their nature promote the resistance in India and throughout much of Africa and
use of toxic herbicides the use of which, contrary to Europe.
industry claims, has risen as GM crops have
proliferated, according to USDA data. The Obama administration's effective rubber stamp
on Monsanto's latest GM products is out of step with
Even with buffer zones to segregate GM and organic international thinking about food democracy and
fields, "Some degree of cross-pollination will occur biodiversity, and an affront to that very American
regardless of what mechanism is going to be put in notion of consumer and producer choice and voice in
place," agronomist Jeff Wolt, of Iowa State the marketplace.
University's Seed Science Center, told the Associated
Press.
Http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinio
The GM threats to biodiversity and democracy are n/2011/0223/Control-over-your-food-Why-
closely related. Monsanto-s-GM-seeds-are-undemocratic
The Editor
IBN 7, Global Broadcast News
Express Trade Tower
NOIDA-Uttar Pradesh
Subject: News about use of banned pesticides Clorodane, Heptachlor and Ethyl Parathion & their residue
Dear Sir,
We would like to draw your kind attention to a News telecast last week (most probably on 10th March 2011) by your esteemed
Channel regarding use of banned pesticides and their residue found in food products. It seems that the Channel in order to
create a sensation carried out this News without verifying the facts. Accordingly, we would like to draw your kind attention
to the following facts:
1. In the world, only one international company was manufacturing Technical Heptachlor and Clorodane and when
these products were banned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India as well as in other countries, this company had
scrapped its plant over 20 years ago. The moot question therefore, is about their availability. If yours esteemed Channel could
make these two products available to us in India, we hereby volunteer to buy the entire quantity.
2. Ethyl Parathion This has been banned the world over, including India, over three decades ago. Even the raw material
to formulate it is not now available. Under such a scenario, the question of its residue in fruits and vegetables is not at all tenable.
Here too, we shall be pleased to purchase the total quantity, if your esteemed Channel could make the same available.
3. The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India is the nodal agency for continuously monitoring pesticides residue
in fruits and vegetables. This agency analyzed 8228 samples of vegetables and 4156 of fruits collected during April 2008 to
March 2010 from different Mandis in the country, and as per their report, there was no indication of use of any pesticide banned
under the Insecticides Act 1968. This information was given by the Hon'ble Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Shri
Dinesh Trivedi in Parliament while answering to an Unstarred Question No.714 dated 1 March 2011. Since such news items
(often based on ill founded scientific facts) create a fear psychosis amongst the public at large about the prevailing use of
pesticides, through your esteemed Channel, we are throwing an open challenge to prove the veracity of banned pesticides
residue in fruits and vegetables in the scientifically drawn samples from anywhere in the country, in the presence of India's Apex
Body, the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. In case this gets
scientifically proved, we would offer 'A reward of Rs. Ten Crore' for this yeoman's service.
We had never imagined that a responsible News Channel , of your credibility , will carry such a News without fully verifying it
from the Government Apex Body and/or from the Pesticides Industry Association-Crop Care Federation of India , so as not to
create a panic amongst the public at large.
We do expect that as a responsible Channel, you would telecast a clarification as per above mentioned facts, in the same slot in
which the earlier news was telecast, and would confirm the same to us. We shall be pleased to provide any further clarification
along with authenticate supporting documents, if so desired.
Thanking you,
(R.G.AGARWAL)
Chairman
Dhanuka Agritech Limited
14th Floor, Building No.5-A
DLF Cyber Terrace, Cyber City
DLF Phase-III, Gurgaon-122001 (Haryana)
“A new invention to poison people … is not a patentable invention.” Lowell v. Lewis, 1817
The Public Patent Foundation filed suit on behalf of The suit points to studies citing harm caused by
270,000 people from sixty organic and sustainable Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, including human
businesses and trade associations, including placental damage, lymphoma, myeloma, animal
thousands of certified-organic farmers. In Organic miscarriages, and other impacts on human health.
Seed Growers and Trade Association, et al. v.
Monsanto, et al. (U.S. District Court, Southern Plaintiffs condemn Monsanto for prohibiting
District of New York, Case No. 11 CIV 2163), independent research on its transgenic seeds and for
PUBPAT details the invalidity of any patent that its successful lobby efforts to ban GM food labeling.
poisons people and the environment, and that is not Many raise the specter of allergic reaction to GM
useful to society, two hallmarks of US patent law. foods, proof of which is hidden by lack of labeling.
"As Justice Story wrote in 1817, to be patentable, an The suit also confronts the propaganda that transgenic
“Thus, since the harm of transgenic seed is known, After pursuing its earliest patents on glyphosate
and the promises of transgenic seed's benefits are resistance, Monsanto continued to seek and receive
false, transgenic seed is not useful for society.” patents on Roundup Ready technology for over two
decades….
This means, should the court agree, that all transgenic
seeds fail the test of patent law. The suit has the “In acquiring the transgenic seed patents, Monsanto
potential to reverse patent approval on all biotech unjustly extended its period of patent exclusivity by
seeds, impacting BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Dow, and duplicating its ownership of a field of invention
Syngenta, and others. already covered by other Monsanto patents.”
Genetic contamination of natural plants occurs where The suit then concludes, “Monsanto's transgenic seed
GM seeds are grown, no matter who developed them. patents are thus invalid for violating the prohibition
Ingesting food which has had its DNA mucked with is against double patenting.”
dangerous, regardless of who does the mucking.
Genetic Contamination
What makes Monsanto different is its US seed
monopoly. Well documented by market authorities, Here's the mother of all arguments, which makes the
Plaintiffs point out that, “Over 85-90% of all most sense to the lay public. How dare Monsanto sue
soybeans, corn, cotton, sugar beets and canola grown farmers damaged by genetic contamination of their
in the U.S. contains Monsanto's patented genes.” crops? That's like a pugilist suing for damage to his
hand after he punches an unwilling victim.
Through its monopoly, Monsanto has spiked the cost
of seeds. In the past decade, corn seed prices increased “Plaintiffs cannot be held to have infringed any
135% and soybean prices 108%, the suit asserts. Monsanto transgenic seed patent if Plaintiffs become
contaminated by Monsanto's transgenic seed through
As recently as 1997, soybean farmers spent only 4-8% no intentional act of their own.”
of their income on seeds, “while in 2009, farmers who
planted transgenic soybeans spent 16.4 percent of Monsanto admits that its product contaminates natural
their income on seeds.” crops. That must be why it recently altered its
Technology Stewardship Agreement to transfer
Monsanto has also used its dominant position to limit liability for its products to the farmers who buy them.
competition from other herbicide producers, as well,
the suit alleges. The suit logically asserts that genetic contamination
amounts to trespass on the property of those who do
Listing 23 US patents by Monsanto, Plaintiffs also not want GE seeds, causing them substantial
accuse the firm of “double patenting” thus economic harm.
strengthening its monopoly over the entire field of
transgenic seeds: We saw that when Bayer's transgenic seeds
contaminated a third of the US rice supply, causing the
“Although the United States patent system allows European Union to close its market to US rice. Bayer
improvements on existing inventions, it does not has faced 6,000 lawsuits due to that contamination and
permit a party to extend its monopoly over a field of market closure.
The new suit notes that, “The worldwide total Thomas also refused to recuse himself from a 2010
economic loss due to the [2006 GM rice] case involving Monsanto. (Geertson Seed v Monsanto
contamination event was estimated at $741 million to involved contamination of natural alfalfa.)
$1.285 billion.”
Among the plaintiffs in the PUBPAT suit is Navdanya
Impact on the Biotech Food Industry International, headed by Dr. Vandana Shiva who has
long fought biopiracy.
The suit argues that because “contamination is
reasonably foreseeable,” Monsanto thus loses its Genetic patents “have unleashed an epidemic of the
patent rights whenever it sells its GM seeds. piracy of nature's creativity and millennia of
indigenous innovation,” Shiva wrote at Navdanya.
This wouldn't stop it from selling the seed, but it
would allow farmers to save seeds from transgenic The new lawsuit couldn't come a moment too soon,
crops. No company can stay in business without given the USDA's recent decision to allow rice
repeat customers, especially ones that spend millions modified with human genes by Ventria Bioscience.
on research and development.
Such approval begs the question: At what point is the
And, because transgenic contamination is not limited line into cannibalism crossed? Biotech and
to Monsanto's seeds, all biotech seed companies pharmaceutical companies have produced several
would likewise face dissolution of their intellectual hundred “pharma crops” food that contains vaccines
property rights. against a variety of diseases.
Other harm from biotechnology does not stop with The FDA and USDA would have us ignore that this
Monsanto's seeds or chemicals, either. scheme fails to consider appropriate dosage specific
to a person's age, weight and medical condition, the
To protect the world from the biotech food industry, very foundation of pharmaceutical science.
which extends to animals, patenting life itself should
be banned. The biotech industry is out of control, and poses a
significant danger to humans and the environment.
This lawsuit might take us closer to a return of that
legal standard, prior to the 2001 High Court decision PUBPAT's lawsuit marks a significant step toward
in J.E.M. Ag Supply v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International. restoring a safe, sane and consensual food supply.
In that case, Oyez explains: