Monsanto
India files biopiracy lawsuit against Monsanto, says biotech giant is
stealing nature for corporate gain
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Representing one of the most agriculturally bio-diverse nations in
the world, India has become a primary target for biotechnology companies like
Monsanto and Cargill to spread their genetically-modified (GM) crops into new
markets. However, a recent France 24 report explains that the Indian
government has decided to take an offensive approach against this attempted
agricultural takeover by suing Monsanto for "biopiracy," accusing the company of
stealing India's indigenous plants in order to re-engineer them into patented
varieties.
Brinjal, also known in Western nations as eggplant, is a native Indian crop for
which there are roughly 2,500 different unique varieties. Millions of Indian
farmers grow brinjal, which is used in a variety of Indian food dishes, and the
country grows more than a quarter of the world's overall supply of the
vegetable.
And in an attempt to capitalize on this popular crop, Monsanto has repeatedly
tried to commercially market its own GM variety of brinjal called Bt brinjal.
But massive public outcry against planned commercial approval of Monsanto's "frankencrop"
variety in 2010 led to the government banning it for an indefinite period of
time.
But Monsanto is still stealing native crops, including brinjal, and quietly
working on GM varieties of them in test fields, which is a clear violation of
India's Biological Diversity Act (BDA). So at the prompting of various farmers
and activists in India, the Indian government, representing the first time in
history a nation that has taken such action, has decided to sue Monsanto.
"This can send a different message to the big companies for violating the laws
of the nation," said K.S. Sugara, Member Secretary of the Karnataka Biodiversity
Board, to France 24 concerning the lawsuit. "It is not acceptable ...
that the farmers in our communities are robbed of the advantage they should get
from the indigenous varieties."
You can watch the full France 24 video report of India's lawsuit against
Monsanto here:
http://www.france24.com/en/20110921...
Farmers and active members of the public in India have been some of the world's
most outspoken opponents of Monsanto's attempted GM takeover of agriculture.
Besides successfully overturning the attempted approval of Bt brinjal,
these freedom fighters have also successfully destroyed several attempted
Monsanto GM test fields.
http://www.naturalnews.com/033714_biopiracy_Monsanto.html