NEW GREEN REVOLUTION-RUSE FOR PUSHING GM TECHNOLOGY INTO AFRICA?

A hungry world is definitely not a place for peace and harmony and the the origin of the so call economic aid from rich countries lies in this irrefutable fact. while tall promises are made from time to time in multilateral meetings and conferences, the follow up action invariably never matches the rhetoric. True, the people in poor countries owe a lot to the developed countries for food aids which serve the purpose of keeping starvation away from the doors of many famished families but the situation can be improved further if the promised aid is delivered as per the commitments made and without any strings attached. Unfortunately a country like the US, considered the most powerful in the world, has a "stingy" and "with strings attached" policy in releasing its aid as reflected by the following critique by dispassionate observers: 

"In March 2009, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed its Global Food Security Act (SB 384). The legislation, known as the Lugar-Casey Act, aims to focus on longer-term agricultural development, and restructure aid agencies to better respond to crises. Funding for agricultural development - some US$7.7 billion worth - would be directed in large part to genetically modified crop research.[1] In other words, food aid policy for the first time mandates the use of genetic modification technologies. Engineered crops will need engineered seeds - seeds that are no longer a result of natural cross-pollination. The Lugar-Casey Act represents the biggest project in agriculture since the original Green Revolution in the 1950s and 1960s. Fifty years ago, developing countries had yearly agricultural trade surpluses of over US$1 billion. Today the Southern food deficit has grown to over US$11 billion per year,[2] helping create dependency on the volatile international markets that led to the 2008 food crisis.[3] The first Green Revolution increased global food production by 11 per cent in a very short time, but per capita hunger also increased equally as much.[4] How could this be? Green Revolution technologies are expensive. The fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, and machinery needed to cash in on productive gains put the technology out of reach of most small farmers, increasing the divide between rich and poor in the developing world. Poor farmers were driven out of business and into poverty-stricken urban slums. The new Green Revolution highlighted in the Lugar-Casey Bill suffers from all these same problems. This time, however, the genetically-engineered seeds will be under patent and privately owned by the biotechnology corporations that monopolise the seed industry, and farmers will have to buy new seed each year.[5] R&D dollars in the millions go to engineered climate-smart seeds as a solution to food security under climate stress. DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta and Limagrain control 29 per cent of the world market in seeds, with Monsanto controlling almost all of the genetically engineered seed. The Gates and Rockefeller foundations' partnership with Monsanto to bring an Asian-type Green Revolution to the African continent will invest US$150 million into the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). On its website, the Alliance describes itself as a 'dynamic partnership working across the continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger ... focusing on key aspects of African agriculture: from seeds, soil health and water to markets, agricultural education and policy'."

While as a country the US has every right to adopt GM foods for its citizens, it is nothing but travesty of justice that this donor country tries to export its GM technology from the monopolistic MNCs to the impoverished countries in African continent. As rightly pointed out by the critics, the farmers in Africa are being pushed from the "frying pan to the fire" because as it is they find it difficult to replicate even the proven but input intensive Green Revolution of Asia. The GM technology, if forced on them, will make them perennial slaves of the exploitative seed suppliers based in the US for generations to come. World must resist this neo colonism and find sustainable alternatives to solve the hunger crisis of the continent.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

MULTI-COUNTRY COOPERATIVE FOOD RESEARCH-A NEW INITIATIVE

Hunger abatment amongst poor people, where ever they live, is a major pre-requisite if world peace is to be ensured. This realization is slowly dawning on many of the rich nations and substantial aid money is being promised to strengthen the food production systems in many impoverished countries in Africa and Asia. It is true that supplying food to the needy ones from the surplus available in some of the rich countries does help to bring solace to millions starved of foods qualitatively and quantitatively but this cannot be a long term solution. New seed technologies ans sustainable food production only can enable the poor countries to attain self-sufficiency to any meaningful extent. There is a devious attempt to hook aid receiving countries on to the GM crop technology which can never be a sustaining proposition. Recent announcement by the UK to fund research in biotechnology area for solving world's food problem with financial support by an American private foundation has roped in India also to lend some respectability to their project labeled as a "cooperative" endeavor. It is not clear as to the institutions involved as the promoters claim it as a capacity building exercise as if such capacities do not exist in India. As the emphasis is on biotechnlogy, it will not be wrong to assume that focus will be on GM technology and how far this will be acceptable to the consumers is another matter.

"The new initiative will place particular emphasis on improving the sustainable production of staple food crops across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These include cassava, maize, rice, sorghum and wheat. By placing significant emphasis on these crops the initiative partners expect to be able to improve food security and quality of life for the largest possible number of people. The initiative also aims to maximise the impact of the research funded by supporting a more comprehensive approach to improving productivity and yield, for example by tackling crop resistance to drought or flood. By funding international researchers tackling problems across different countries and regions promising research from one country can easily be shared and tested more widely in different regions and conditions to provide the widest possible benefit. Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive, said: "Global society faces huge challenges in the coming years and securing safe, affordable and nutritious food for everyone is one of the biggest. Scientists and organisations across the world have the capabilities and expertise to make a real difference in meeting the global food security challenge but no single organisation or country can do this on its own. By working together and by coordinating our activity we can maximise the impact of our investment and of international science. The joint programme that we are announcing today is a groundbreaking example of how we can do so." Each project funded under the initiative will include partners from the UK and a developing nation. This approach, used by BBSRC and DFID in previous programmes, aims to build scientific capacity in developing countries, with the aim of developing research teams and projects that tackle other local scientific challenges".

As far as India is concerned capability already exists in the country as proven by the Green Revolution achieved decades ago making the country self-sufficient and if the aim is to 'train' personnel from poorer countries in technologies that will increase the yield of staple crops, the project may be relevant. On th other hand if it is intended to help India achieve any break-through in grain production, sufficient expertise as well as funds are already available in India.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

AN UNHOLY INFLUENCE ON HOLY PORTALS!-A DESPICABLE ACT

The recent Wikileaks expose of American double standards in dealing with other countries must be seen in the light of the unbridled power this country has been enjoying during the last two decades and it is a matter of speculation why this nation has frittered away the goodwill through arrogant behavior manifested in the cable messages from their embassies across the world. Whether these leaked out papers will pass muster from legal angle or not, they do serve a purpose in understanding the mindset of rich countries like the US towards other less fortunate counterparts in this planet. Leaving aside the political aspects, what strikes as odd is the pompous approach made by this country to the Christian religious Head at Rome to "canvas" for selling its GM technology to poor countries so that the giant US monopolies that sell dubious technologies make more money at the expense of poverty-ridden population of Africa, South America and Asia.

"US diplomats pushed the Roman Catholic Church to support biotech food in developing nations, according to secret U.S diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Efforts to push genetically modified (GM) crops globally extended even into the halls of the Vatican. Embassy cables in Spain, Austria and even Pakistan indicate that US diplomats stand with the biotech industry, although issues are still disputed in court and the public at large eyes the biotechnology dubiously, states a Truthout report. The leaked cable documents a meeting that took place with a U.S. diplomat, a USAID official and Catholic leaders in Rome to discuss biotech foods in 2005. The U.S. representatives reported afterward that the Vatican seemed more concerned about the potential of the biotechnology to entrap farmers into economic subjugation and rather accepted the biologically altered products themselves. US diplomats used the vocabulary of a "moral imperative," citing the need to feed growing populations as an argument useful to respond to opposition to the biotech food industry among Catholic activists and clergy".

It is well known that genetic manipulation of food crops through biotechnological tools can yield many disease resistant varieties but their safety is not yet established beyond a shadow of doubt. Age old technique of hybridization which helped to usher in the Green Revolution of nineteen sixties and seventies is considered akin to natural evolution but manipulation of the gene at the molecular level to evolve new varieties is fraught with unpredictable consequences. It is true that more than 80% of the American foods to day are derived from GM crops, though most consumers are unaware of it and in the short term nothing catastrophic has happened so far, except for the phenomenal health down turn the population there is experiencing during the last decade or so. Since no mandatory labeling is in force for distinguishing between natural and GM crops, the consumers are forced to accept these foods with no choice. The "imperial" power cannot expect other democratic countries to shove these GM foods through the throat of their population who may be famished but are proud of their freedom and human rights

V H Potty

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http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

VISION OF A SECOND "WHITE REVOLUTION"-IS IT ACHIEVABLE?

It speaks well of the visionary quality of the dairy sector planners in India if one listens to the bold declaration by the apex body National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) regarding its plans to strive for raising the country's milk production to a record 180 million tons by the year 2021-2022. NDDB has the necessary credentials to speak on the subject having taken the country to the top of the list of milk producing nations through its earlier Operation Flood programs. That the Board is not talking about the GM route or consumer unfriendly artificial bio-based hormone regime to achieve the goal is all the more praise worthy when many other countries are using them to achieve unheard levels of productivity amongst milch animals. Here is a take on the strategy enunciated by NDDB as orchestrated by its CEO recently.

Dr Amrita Patel, chairman, National Dairy Development Board, addressed the National Seminar on "Indian Dairy and Food Industry – Future Roadmap for Sustainable Growth" on September 24 at the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, with some introspection on the dairy industry. Even though milk production had been increasing steadily, the demand for milk appeared to be increasing at a much faster rate. The increase in incomes and improved redistribution of such income in both urban and rural areas was fuelling this growth in demand, which did not seem to be significantly affected by increases in consumer price thereby confirming the growing purchasing power of urban households. "For low and middle income households, there should be an increasing concern over the rise in consumer price of milk, " said Dr Patel. The projected demand for milk by 2021-22 estimated at 180 million tonnes implied that milk production would have to be doubled and this would require India to increase its milk production (which has been growing annually at about 3.2 million tonnes over the last 15 years) to 6 million tonnes annually, without compromising on competitive advantage. The National Dairy Plan (NDP) had projected the organised dairy sector growing to handle about 65% of the marketable surplus by 2021-22 from the current level of about 30%.

Indian dairy industry is poised to develop dramatically in the coming years shifting the emphasis from pasteurized fluid milk to value added items like Cheese, Yogurt and milk powder based consumer products. The enormous opportunity afforded by the indigenous milk based products like khoa, chakka, paneer and down stream products based on them is yet to be tapped and organized R & D in this area needs further boost from organizations like NDDB and AMUL. Milk is by far the most balanced food, especially for a population starved of other animal based foods like egg, poultry, meat and fish mainly because of economic constraints and insufficient purchasing power. The innovative marketing strategy with fluid milk has enabled even for poorer populations to buy milk at Rs 5 in small sachets. Recent introduction of spiced Butter Milk in Tetra Pack units at comparatively low price is further proof that dairy sector can play a useful and constructive role as a health provider to millions of people in the country.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com