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<DIV><A
href="http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/71054/1/">http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/71054/1/</A><BR>Monsanto
Pull-Out May Help Anti-GM Indian Farmers: Campaigners<BR>Kalyani, 22 October
2003<BR><BR>NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (OneWorld) - Food and environment rights activists
believe American biotech giant Monsanto's decision to partially withdraw from
Europe will give a boost to an Indian campaign to free a wheat patented by the
multinational company (MNC). <BR><BR>Groups such as the New Delhi-based Research
Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE) and the global
environment campaigner, Greenpeace, state that a Monsanto patent for a strain of
wheat it claims to have invented is derived from a traditional Indian variety of
the cereal. <BR><BR>"We expect Monsanto's withdrawal from Europe to strengthen
our case," says RFSTE additional director Afsar H. Jafri. RFSTE and Greenpeace
are planning to challenge the patent in the European Patent office in Munich
before the year-end. <BR><BR>"The Monsanto patent pirates the collective
cumulative innovation of Indian farmers," alleges RFSTE, maintaining that the
traits of Indian wheat Monsanto claims to have invented are part of India's food
culture. "The patent is thus a piracy not just of millennia of breeding by
Indian farmers but also of millennia of innovation in food qualities," it says.
<BR><BR>Though Monsanto's decision to withdraw from the European market is being
hailed by anti-GM activists as a victory for the campaign against Genetically
Modified (GM) crops that they claim contaminate the environment, Indian
campaigners are also concerned the MNC will now focus more on developing
nations. <BR><BR>"Monsanto will be on the look out for other markets, and since
it has already been eyeing India and China, we have to be a lot more vigilant,"
says Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign, another New Delhi-based organization working
for the rights of Indian farmers. <BR><BR>"And our worry is that the Indian
government is in cohorts with Monsanto," she says. <BR><BR>In India, Monsanto's
BT cotton is already being cultivated, while trials are underway for the
production of GM maize. Recent reports state that cotton cultivation has failed
in many parts. <BR><BR>Sahai, who is just back in New Delhi after touring the
southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where BT cotton is being cultivated,
says preliminary reports suggest farmers are not happy with the season's
modified cotton crop. Gene Campaign will present a report on the state of the
crop in January. <BR><BR>But activists expect Monsanto to use India as a
lucrative market, despite the agitation over the impact of GM crops. "We fear
Monsanto will get government agencies to clear their operations by hook or by
crook," says Jafri. <BR><BR>Sahai believes the European experience - where
pressure from civil society has prompted governments to put a de facto
moratorium on the production of GM crops - can be replicated in India only if
the government is more transparent about its policy on GM crops. <BR><BR>"But
the problem is that the government of India is as transparent as a brick wall,"
she states. <BR><BR>The groups, however, stress there will be no let-up in
pressurizing the Indian government on the hazards of GM crops. <BR><BR>"We are
gearing up our campaign, by taking up the issue both locally and
internationally," says Jafri. For the wheat patent challenge, samples are being
tested to support their claim. <BR><BR>Though Monsanto is reported to have said
it's last week's decision had nothing to do with a five-year moratorium imposed
on the commercial production of bio-tech crops by the European Union, it came in
the wake of a strong move against genetically modified food in Europe.
<BR><BR>According to a study released Thursday, GM crops damage as well protect
biodiversity. The three-year-long study of three types of crops in 60 sites
found that while oilseed, rape and sugar beet plants harmed the environment more
than conventional crops, leading to fewer insect groups like bees and
butterflies, GM maize was better than conventional maize for weeds, butterflies
and bees. <BR><BR>Sahai calls for studies such as the British survey to assess
the damage posed by GM crops in India. "Like the Europeans look at issues that
concern them, we in India need to focus on our own problems," she says, pointing
out that Gene Campaign has been dealing with the issue of modified rice because
rice is one of the staple cereals in India. <BR><BR>"The public pressure on the
government has to come in a focused way," says Sahai. <BR><BR>Food rights
activists also stress the need for a dialogue between the government and people
on the ramifications of GM crops. "But forget a dialogue, the government of
India is even refusing to take the concerns of civil society into account," she
protests. <BR>---------------------</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
size=2>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR>"Wir brauchen keine
Bio-Terroristen, wenn wir Gentechniker haben."<BR>Independent Science Panel (<A
href="http://www.indsp.org">www.indsp.org</A>)</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>