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Impoverishing farmers
The patenting of seeds gives enormous economic power to a small
number of agribusiness corporations and they sell their wares on
the global market. These will not be cheap. The insect-resistant
maize hybrid produced by Pioneer Hi-Breed requires access to 38
different patents controlled by 16 different patent holders. In
addition farmers will be forced to pay royalties on succeeding generations
of plants and animals that they buy or produce. It will be illegal
to save seeds from the previous harvest without permission and payment,
and this will make farmers totally dependent on the corporations.
The impact on Third World countries will be devastating. It will
lead to a further flow of financial resources from the South to
the North, and, in the process, institutionalise the dependence
of Southern agriculture on Northern corporations. The flow of scientific
information and new agricultural technologies will be concentrated
in the hands of these corporations.
Corporations controlling staple food crops
If biodiversity continues to be privatised for the exclusive benefit
of Northern corporations, this will give them control over the food
supply of our world. At present, 10 corporations control 32% of
the commercial seed market, valued at $23 billion, and 100% of the
market for genetically engineered seeds. Also, with massive resources
being channelled into biotechnology, financial support for traditional
crops and farming methods is tiny.
Unsustainable agriculture
Patents promote unsustainable and inequitable agricultural policies.
A disastrous decline in genetic diversity could result from patenting
crop species. The development of genetically uniform organisms is
preferred by the agribusiness corporations because it is then easier
for them to maintain their patent claims. Biotech companies holding
broad spectrum patents on food crops encourage farmers to grow modified
varieties with promises of greater yields and disease resistance.
However, numerous examples world-wide show that the "improved" crops
have failed to yield according to corporate promises, and have led
to a diminishing of the rich diversity of traditional crop varieties.
False promises for the poor
The biotech industry boasts that genetically engineered rice could
help prevent blindness among poor children. Millions of public funding
went into developing this technology which was hailed as proof that
biotechnology would help feed and supplement the diet of the poor
who might be lacking in Vitamin A. The researchers, Ingo Potrykus
and Peter Beyer, who developed the transgenic beta-carotene enhanced
rice were so afraid of the complexities of patent negotiations that
they quickly signed the publicly-funded technology to AstraZeneca
(now Syngenta), one of the world's largest agrochemical and biotech
companies. Already there are some 70 patents on the so-called "golden
rice", whose efficacy appears to be grossly exaggerated.
Suffering of animals
Attempts have been made to genetically engineer fish, cattle, sheep,
pigs and chickens to increase their growth rates, have lower fat
levels, and more tolerance of diseases common to overcrowded and
unhygienic factory farms. Also being researched are pigs and poultry
that are more docile and better suited to intensive farming conditions,
and even featherless chickens that do not need to be plucked. In
sheep, incorporation of human and bovine growth hormone genes has
resulted in disrupted joint development and a diabetes-like condition,
suppression of appetite and a shortened lifespan.
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In West Africa the brazzein berry is renowned for its sweetness.
This berry is much sweeter than sugar and, unlike other non-sugar
sweeteners, it does not lose its taste when heated. This makes it
an ideal candidate for the sugar-free food industry which is worth
about $100 billion a year.
A U.S. researcher from the University of Wisconsin
who saw people and animals eating the berry applied for a U.S. and
European patent on the protein isolated from the berry. The drive
to create a genetically engineered organism to produce brazzein
is under way. This will eliminate the need to grow the berry in
West Africa.
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