April 8, 2020
BAYER MONSANTO – DEBT, SUICIDES & ENVIRONMENTAL DISTRESS.
The theatre
In recent developments, Monsanto and Bayer have merged into a powerful cartel which seek to control not only what we eat but also managed to pocket a dime a dozen politicians, financially ambitious scientists & poorly informed marketers masquerading as journalists.
Without the deep pockets bankrolling the Monsanto’s PR machine the facade of alleged “farmers welfare” would be taken apart without much difficulty.
The giant that is the merger between Monsanto & Bayer should be a disturbing & urgent cause of concern. The reality of the merger is the creation of one of the most powerful cartels with unrivalled influence & control on the world’s food supply, environmental activities & agriculture.
The profit motivated enterprise that is Monsanto has exponentially grown its reach in several ways. By their genetic engineering of seeds as a means to control the supply seeds, they create monopolies while actively lobbying via the World Bank to ensure the uptake of their products at the government level of sovereign states. This in addition to forcefully preventing the widespread use of natural seeds.
Their talk of innovation & technology is laughable in light of the consequences of their activities. Most notably, their alleged innovation on the Indian subcontinent with regards to Monsanto patented BT Cotton seed which is cited as being directly responsible for the epidemic of farmers’ suicides.
The Monsanto business plan
Originally, seeds are bred and used for several planting seasons for free by farmers. Have been since humans existed.
In India, Monsanto exerts tyrannical control on the cotton seed supply, specifically 95 % of India’s cotton seed. By illegitimately patenting seeds, they collect rents for the use of this seed every planting season.
In this way, Monsanto traps farmers in debt as well as suing them for ‘rental payments’ on these seeds.
Seed is the most basic resource farmers have had for eons of years.
The entrance of Monsanto continues to rob this from farmers by patenting an “intellectual property” on seeds, allowing Monsanto to extort the collection of royalties on what was once freely and naturally available. This in turn has raised the cost of the seed while making a once renewable resource non renewable.
Creating ever more income streams for themselves, Monsanto then use these opportunities to market ever more poisonous chemicals to treat the symptoms of the originally malfunctioning GMO seeds.
In fact, Monsanto declared that they were “the patient’s diagnostician, and physician all in one” with respect to writing the patents on life-forms(micro-organisms to plants) in the WTO TRIPS’ agreement.
How GMOs don’t in fact work
Typically, genetically modifying seeds (GMOs) include putting a toxic gene into a plant cell under the pretext of pest control & larger harvests. In truth however, GMOs have failed miserably in the control of pests & weeds, resulting instead in the emergence of highly resistant super pests & weeds.
Who sponsors Monsanto?
The World bank including its lending arm are no strangers to harrasing and suing farmers. They might even be the best at it.
Monsanto’s grip is facilitated by the 1988 Seed Policy issued by the World Bank which requires sovereign countries to deregulate their seed sector(1). The world Bank also gave India’s seed sector a further $ 150 million loan to facilitate the privatisation of the seed industry in addition to paving the way in for multinational seed corporations such as Monsanto.
This has then led to the private sector (including India, Brazil, Canada) being trapped into joint ventures & licensing arrangements with Monsanto. Farmer suicides from India, to Brazil to Canada have been caused by the extortion of more than $2.2 billion in seed royalties.
Most disturbingly, Monsanto has engineered & promotes the use of sterile seeds. These seeds use Gene Use Restriction Technology (GRUT) which results in seed produced by the resulting crops which will not grow. The seeds and plants from here will therefore not be able to reproduce in the future and have a single season use before mass extinction.
Does home of Monsanto Bayer, the European Union know about this?
The EU has in fact authorized the use of unto GMOs, mostly for use in animal feed. However, Hungary, France, Bulgaria, Luxemburg, Germany & Greece have active bans in place which were started in last decade.
In January 2005, the Hungarian government announced a ban on importing and planting of GMO maize seeds.
The French government, under the good leadership of Jean Francois Le Grand banned the cultivation of Monsanto’s MON810 maize citing “serious doubts” with regards to safety.
The German Federal Minister Ilse Aigner halted cultivation and marketing of Monsanto’s MON810 maize due to considerable safety concerns.
Bulgaria has a complete ban on GMO crops in any context after widespread protests. And Poland too has banned the use of Monsanto’s MON810 maize.
This context of debt, suicides and environmental distress exacted on the agri entrepreneurial community is brazenly sponsored in our life times by Monsanto Bayer.