Sunday, March 31, 2013

Seeds of suicide and slavery versus seeds of life and freedom - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Contrary to its claims, Monsanto's monopoly on seeds in India are the root cause behind the sharp increase in suicides.

"Monsanto is an agricultural company. We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world produce more while conserving more."

"Produce more. Conserve more. Improving farmers' lives."

This is the announcement on Monsanto India's website. All the pictures are of smiling prosperous farmers from the state of Maharashtra. However, we see that the reality on the ground is completely different. Farmers are in debt and in deep distress, and have become dependent on Monsanto's seed monopoly. Most of the farmers who have committed suicide in India did so due to being trapped in debt and are in the cotton belt - which has become a suicide belt now: The highest suicides are in Maharashtra. Monsanto's talk of "technology" tries to hide its real objectives of ownership, where genetic engineering is just a means to control seeds and the food system through patents and intellectual property rights.

Read More
Seeds of suicide and slavery versus seeds of life and freedom - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

No comments:

Post a Comment