|
Fighting for India's 'seed freedom'
Thursday July 05, 2012 10:59:01 AM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
New Delhi: Stressing
that seeds are "inseparable" from the culture and traditional
knowledge of farmers, an NGO fighting to protect native seeds has
criticized an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
proposal to allow multinational companies access to its seed bank.
At a meeting on Bija Swaraj (seed freedom) held here, it was
stressed that the implementation of the Trade Related Intellectual
Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) had "opened the door to the introduction of
GMOS (genetically modified organisms), patents on seed and the
collection of royalties."
The seed became a "commodity packaged by private seed companies,
traded on a market controlled by monopolies".
The meeting Wednesday saw participation by farmers, activists,
scientists, legal experts and students who decided to "fight for
the protection of seed sovereignty." The meeting, hosted by NGO Navdanya, decided to launch a movement to reclaim "India's seed
freedom and biological diversity" with a Bija Satyagraha on Oct 2,
Gandhi Jayanti, in New Delhi.
The participants said that ICAR's decision to collaborate with
multinational seed companies "would provide the corporates access
to ICAR's massive seed bank containing 400,000 varieties of native
seeds developed by farmers".
"Most of the 250,000 farmers who committed suicide are from the
cotton belt, heralding genocide by the agro-biotech companies. Now
there is an attempt to facilitate the biopiracy of all the genetic
resources of the country beyond just the cotton seed," a statement
said.
It also said the Green Revolution was "based on a false assumption
that scientists' seed varieties are superior to farmers'
varieties".
"The High Yielding Varieties (HYV) created during this time are
actually High Responsive Varieties which require enormous amounts
of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and water. Farmers' seeds can
produce more yield than HYVs if cultivated in an ecologically
sustainable manner."
Navdanya, led by activist Vandana Shiva, is responding to this
situation through taking the following actions:
* Creation of a national and global alliance for seed freedom
* Seed Freedom Pilgrimages" across the country and a campaign Oct
2-16 across the world.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Palestinian president ready to exhume Arafat's body to confirm
poisoning
Yasser Arafat's body may be exhumed to
allow for more testing of the causes of his death, the Palestinian
president said Wednesday, after a Swiss »
Arafat's widow calls to exhume the dead
leader's body
'Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was
poisoned'
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Can't forge signature, says Pranab; Team
Sangma to move court
UPA presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday denied
that the signature on his letter of resignation from the Kolkata-based
ISI was "forged" even as Team Sangma upped the ante and threatened
to go to court.
»
Government preparing for post poll showdown
|
|
God Particle's discovery 'biggest leap in physics'
Scientists have finally locked onto Higgs Boson,
the 'God Particle', a discovery that crowns the global scientific
community's most challenging and comprehensive quest for the
subatomic
»
New particle found, could unravel secret of
universe |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Exhume unmarked grave in Kashmir: Rights panel
In a
significant development of far reaching consequences, Jammu and
Kashmir's apex rights panel Wednesday ordered the first exhumation
of an unmarked grave in a border village and DNA matching of its
remains.
The
» |
|
78 Indian workers left high and dry in Saudi Arabia
Seventy-eight Indians, working for a private firm
in Saudi Arabia, have been left stranded without food and water
after their employer reneged on paying their salaries for about
six months, apart from failing to issue them identity and medical
» |
|
As militancy fades, girls return to school
in Jammu's remote regions
For the girls
of Mahore in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district where militants
used to have a free run, it is time to realise their dreams
through education.
Till a few years ago, they stayed
» |
|
 Pakistani Islamic groups oppose NATO supply lines' reopening
Leaders of Islamic parties in Pakistan Wednesday
opposed Islamabad's decision to reopen supply routes for NATO
forces to Afghanistan
» |
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
The Aligarh
Muslim University (AMU) students with the world's largest
envelope they put on display on May 02, 2012. The envelope
earned the premium Institution a place in the Guinness Book of
World Records. AMU received a certificate in this regard on
June 28, 2012. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links