In the past month, the Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research approved the Seed (Amendment) Bill, 2014, Roots for Equity has been consistently opposing the proposed Bill. There is now news that the Senate will be meeting in the next week to pass it from the Senate as well.
The basis of genetic science is faulty! It is faulty because due scientific methodologies are not being followed that would allow an unbiased scientific opinion which would merit passing or rejecting genetically modified technologies.
The problem now is not of science but the capitalist paradigm that is pushing all inventions and innovations for the sake of profit-accumulation. Science for Knowledge, and Science in the Service of People are not the beacons that are held in our universities or other seats of learning.
On the other hand, the suffering of the poor and the downtrodden are used as marketable slogans so that these very expensive, intellectual property driven technologies are forced down the throat of our governments (though really it is not so difficult to force it down . . . as corruption is rife in government circles) and government policies are ‘tuned’ to meet the demands of the transnational corporations that will earn millions of dollars from capturing new markets, especially agriculture markets.
Recently, studies have been propagated which highlight the use of genetically modified (GM) beta-carotene-enriched corn in poultry feed. Also, a GM wheat was also under trial. The GMO wheat was engineered with synthetic genes to mimic an aphid distress signal that was supposed to repel certain pests called aphid pests.
Both have been critiqued for various reasons. We will not discuss the scientific reasons given for their failure here, as these have been well written and we are posting them on our blog.
However, we would like to highlight other issues based on which farmers from Pakistan are contesting GM technologies.
First, the seeds are using genetic material that is the collective property of farmers across the world. Today, these huge profit-driven corporations have no right to access and use the genetic material that is not theirs.
Second, these technologies are extremely dangerous to the environment. The climate chaos (that appeared as a killer heat wave and took the lives of more than 1200 people in a matter of 3-4 days in Karachi, Pakistan) is a result of the industrial mode of production in the past 150 years or so. Genetic science especially in agriculture is a major source of environmental pollution which could unleash many form of instability in the environment jeopardizing not only the lives of millions of human-beings but many ecosystems that are critical for maintaining life on our beleaguered planet.
Third, these technologies are and will further only increase the pauperization of our small and landless farmers. There are daily reports of farmers across the world of committing suicide. The reason is only the very high cost of production and privatization, deregulation and trade liberalization policies being brutally pushed on millions of farming communities across the world. The ever-rising cost of agricultural inputs, land grabbing, mechanization and now escalating automation in agricultural production is one over-whelming reason for farmers not being able to eke out a living and suffering from malnourishment and hunger.
If we add the impact of new technologies such as hybrid and genetically modified seeds in this mix of anti-farmer policies it is no wonder that farmers have clearly refused to accept genetically modified seeds and crops as an answer to world hunger, prosperity and ludicrously climate change! There is no doubt that genetically modified sees are just the oppose.
GM beta-carotene corn: Who benefits?
http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16211-gm-beta-carotene-corn-who-benefits