GMO GEOPOLITICS UPDATE: MON(STER)SANTO LOSES PATENT RIGHTS IN INDIA

Ms. M.W. spotted this one and, in my estimation, it could be a very significant development in the emergence of GMO geopolitics. The US "agribusiness" giant Mon(ster)santo has lost a crucial decision in India; it cannot patent its GMO seeds in that country. But there's more:

Monsanto loses right to patent seeds

Here's the crucial parts of the story:

Opponents of genetically modified crops received a boost when the Delhi High Court upheld the Indian Patent Act, which states that seeds and life forms cannot be patented, and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 (PPV&FR Act), which biotechnology multinationals have tried to undermine, and ruled that key plant genetic material cannot be patented. The court was deciding a dispute between Monsanto and Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, Prabhat Agri Biotech Ltd and Pravardhan Seeds Private Ltd, over interpretation of law, especially Section 3(j) of the Indian Patent Act and applicability of PPV&FR Act for transgenic plants.

Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Yogesh Khanna, on April 11, ruled that Monsanto Technologies LLC does not have the patent for Bt Cotton seed varieties ‘Bollgard’ and ‘Bollgard II’. The Bench permitted Monsanto three months to register the seed varieties under the Plant Varieties Act (PV Act), which would entitle the firm to trait fee (royalty) as fixed by the Government, give it control over plant reproductive materials, but not the key genetic material, which would be available to the public for further research and development.

The ruling is a boost to domestic seed companies that used Monsanto’s gene to prepare Bt Cotton seeds for farmers, and will seriously curb the ability of multinationals to establish a seed monopoly in India, which is the goal of the GM industry. This could downsize the market for genetically modified seeds in India (in any life form) and pave the way for more environmentally sustainable agriculture.

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The ruling forbids Monsanto from stopping supplies to seed companies and holding farmers hostage. Monsanto will have to abide by Indian laws to operate in India. Reluctance will help revive the native seed industry which has been undermined by the agri-MNCs and their links with public-funded agricultural institutions that never bothered to assess the impact of GM seeds on soil, animal and human health.

Note several things: the ruling prevents Mon(ster)santo from stopping shipments of seeds for whatever reason, but more importantly, allows Indian companies essentially to clone or "reverse engineer" Mon(ster)santo's GMO seeds. Because of that, there is a further implication which the article points out: "This could downsize the market for genetically modified seeds in India (in any life form) and pave the way for more environmentally sustainable agriculture." In other words, what the decision of the Indian courts really means is that natural heirloom seeds now have the ability to recapture a significant share of the Indian seed market. Here GMOs are at a distinct disadvantage, for natural seeds, being natural, are less costly since they do not represent an investment in genetic techniques to create the seeds. In other words, the cost-to-benefit ratio of GMO vs normal seeds is beginning to shrink.

And here, in my high octane speculation, is where the GMO geopolitics kicks in, for India has essentially sent a resounding "No!" to the agenda of the big agribusiness cartels to control the world's food supply via GMOs, patents, and royalties. In this, India now joins the other major agricultural powerhouse that has also said "No!" to IG Farbensanto and the global GMO cartel agenda: Russia. As I've been arguing for many years, Russia appears to have positioned itself as the great "contradiction" to the dogmas of Mr. Globaloney: Mr. Putin, in speech after speech, has challenged the core dogmas of Mr. Globaloney by questioning the desirability of global corporate government, or by challenging the notion that cocktails of vaccines are ipso facto "good." Similarly, Russia has challenged the whole propaganda matrix surrounding GMOs and positioned itself as a major agricultural supplier of natural seeds (the so-called heirloom seeds).

If this reading of "GMO geopolitics" that I've been arguing for a few years  is true, then we can expect that Russia and India will cement new trading deals which will include a Russian entry into the seed markets of India. If so, then expect the anti-GMO revolt against IG Farbensanto to spread quickly, to Africa (where there is already significant resistance in some countries to GMOs), and eventually to South and Meso America.

The bottom line for the USA is that it has to start producing something other than poisoned food, war, drones, and privileges for its corporations, for GMO geopolitics as it has practiced it, is beginning to backfire.

See you on the flip side...