SCRAP MOUs WITH MONSANTO: Demand various groups

Chandigarh, February 15, 2013: Various Kisan Unions; Environmental, Social ; Scientific and Health Groups; Organic Farming and Intellectuals' Organisations; today came together to express shock and dismay at the Punjab Government signing MoUs with Monsanto in the name of 'Crop Diversification'.

They pointed out that Monsanto is one company that has no expertise in diversification. On the contrary it is the “enemy no. 1” of diversification. It has a history of monopolistic and exploitative practices, promoting monocultures and has a well known legacy of being anti-farmer, anti people and anti-nature.

They called on the Punjab Government to immediately scrap the MoUs, they have signed with Monsanto to set up Research and Development (R&D) Centers in Punjab.

They warned that no government with any commitment to farmers would ever sign an MoU with such a “notorious” company as Monsanto. 

They pointed out that even in India a 'Biopiracy Case' has been filed against Monsanto by none other than the National Biodiversity Board (NBA).

Among the various groups that came together on this issue were Kheti Virasat Mission, Bharti Kisan Union- Sidhupur, BKU Dakunda , Kirti Kisan Union, Kisan Sanghrash Samiti , Punjab Kisan Union, Internationalist Democratic Party, Nature Human Centric People’s Movement, Punjab Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Indian Doctors for Peace and Development, Cancer-Free World Foundation, Eco Sikh etc.  Several eminent citizens including Dr Daljit Singh, Eye Surgeon, Dr L S Chawla, former Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Gyani Kewal Singh, former Jathedar of Takht Sri Damdma Sahib, Senior Journalists Satnam Singh Manak, Gobind Thukral; Dr Sucha Singh Gill, Director General CRRID, Prof Jagmohan Singh ,General Secretary AFDR , Dr Inderjit Kaur of Pingalwara and Dr G P I Singh, Vice Chancellor, Adesh University, Bathinda also joined in raising the concerns. Several other organisations also extended their support to the move against these MoUs including Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha, Scientific Awareness Forum, Azaadi Bachaao Andolan and Swadeshi Jagran Manch.     

Today the problems faced by Punjab are not those that can be solved by big monopolistic corporate like Monsanto. “Punjab is facing the ill-effects of the chemical-intensive agriculture- diminishing fertility of agricultural lands, depleting waters, environmental pollution, large number of speciesbecoming extinct because of reproductive failure and fast growing prevalence of cancers and other chronic illnesses amongst the citizens of the state.” said Epidemiologist Dr G P I Singh. “Both Pesticides and GM crops come from the same school of thought and the same labs that aim at profiting at the cost of farmers, public health and environment. This should not be allowed to continue” he added.

In this context, the dire need is of promoting diversity and ecological farming in the state while encouraging agricultural universities to take up research in this direction and allocating more funds in this direction. “True improvement in Punjab’s farming cannot be done by Monsanto who has no expertise on diversification or ecological restoration. Their technologies are simply a repetition of those that brought Punjab into the present ecological disaster in the first place” said Umendra Dutt, Executive Director, Kheti Virasat Mission. “Monsanto in fact is a corporation that represents monocultures and monopolies. No solutions lie here, as is obvious, if the Punjab government is thinking in an unbiased manner, with a long term vision. The government is clearly showing that it is not standing by the side of the people and environment of Punjab by getting into these agreements” he added.

Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, BKU Dakunda speaking on the behalf of the joint front of 17 Farmers Unions said “Monsanto’s policies are explicitly anti-Farmer, anti-People, anti-Nature and it has been in the news world over for wrong reasons- for its monopolistic practices, and wiping out choices for the farmers in the long run, for bringing in and promoting toxic technologies like GM seeds, for adopting wrongful and unethical practices including bribing decision-makers for obtaining regulatory approvals etc.”.

“The technologies that Monsanto is selling have nothing to do with smallholder farming in the country and are not going to add to the food security of the country. In fact, this will only result in Punjab losingits position in India as a farming and farmer-centered state.” He reminded that “in the United States, the use of herbicide-tolerant GM crops, mostly of Monsanto's seeds, have created an ecological disaster in the form of superweeds in more than 60 million hectares, and this has become a burden for the farmers. Such disasters would have much more serious impacts in India. Herbicide usage, that too of old generation deadlier pesticides along with the adverse impacts of Glyphosate, will add to the woes of cancer-ridden Punjab.”

The group also brought to the notice of the public that earlier in April 2012, Gujarat Government had withdrawn Monsanto’s proprietary seeds of Hybrid Maize, from various ongoing government projects in the state under the name of Project Sunshine, which were being used to distribute among tribal farmers of the state. Monsanto has also been caught red handed in the flagrant violations of illegal field trials in different parts of the country. Even in October this year in Kurukshetra (Haryana), farmers forced the Haryana Agriculture University authorities to completely destroy the field trial of Monsanto’s GM corn.

Social activist Hemant Goswami mentioned that the solution of Punjab lies in true indigenous pro-people scientific approach to agriculture and not the industry-driven science which is actually untested quack science, slyly pushed as the new science.“How can a company which earns multi-billion dollar profit by only licensing patents, and its business executives who live in five star facilities, provide an alternative to the peculiar problems faced by farmers in Punjab? It's clear that the interest of Monsanto driven scientists and bureaucrats is to make some quick money at the cost of complete destruction of Punjab,” Goswami added.

Amidst all the ongoing developments, it is shocking and disappointing that our state government is encouraging on its own an unethical company like Monsanto, ignoring the voices of several farmers, farmer unions, members of civil society and eminent scientists who have opposed the practices of Monsanto and similar seed companies, who only intended to maximise their profits in the name of farmers, putting at stake the sovereignty of millions of small and marginal farmers.

The groups reminded that in a recently released report of the Centre for Food Safety of the US, as of December 2012, Monsanto had filed 142 alleged seed patent infringement lawsuits against 410 farmers and56 small farm businesses in 27 states of USA. Monsanto till date has been awarded 72 judgments totalling a whopping $23,675,820.99 which is around Rs 110 crore as fine to the farmers. Monsanto has achieved this through its Intellectual Property Rights over the seeds, an unheard of practice in India, where seeds being the gift of Nature and are the rights of farmers. Does Punjab Government want to allow Monsanto to enslave Punjab farmers and loot in similar way?  Groups asked the Punjab Government to clarify its stand on this issue.

The signatories also warned that in spite of repeated warnings, if the Punjab Government continues with their association with Monsanto, they would be forced to take such steps that would be necessary for protecting the lives, the health and the food security and sovereignty of Punjab and the Nation. The lasting solutions in farming are based in farmer-controlled diversity-based farming, not corporation-controlled Monoculture under the deceptive label of 'diversification' of crops. They also warned that it will not be possible to be a silent spectator to the designs of the Government to allow such notorious companies to decide the fate of India's agriculture.  It also asked the Punjab Government to wake up to the call of the lacs of affected farmers, poisoned and sick people, dying species, toxic and depleting waters and damaged soil, and take steps to move Punjab into a sustainable, self-reliant, pro farmer, pronature, health promoting  and safe farming practices.

Most of Groups signatories to the statement were already active on the issue  after forming a socio-environmental coalition called Vatavaran Aty Samaj Bachaao Morcha Punjab last year are now decided to reactive the Morcha and will take-up the issue further told Maliwinder Singh Mali an Morcha member.