Biothai
| GRAIN | South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers
Movement (SICCFM) |
Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP)
Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP)
Groups
in Asia support Filipino farmers' uprooting of Golden Rice
PRESS
RELEASE
August
29, 2013
On
August 8, 2013 more than 400 farmers, church people, students, academics and
consumers uprooted a field trial of genetically modified (GM) rice that was
nearly ready for harvest in Pili, Camarines Sur, Philippines. This courageous
action undertaken by the Peasant Movement of Bicol and the Sikwal-GMO alliance
was necessary to prevent the contamination of Asia's most important food crop
by GMOs.
Field
trials of Golden Rice, one in Pili and three in other areas of the Philippines,
are part of an agenda to push forward the acceptance of GMOs. Golden Rice is
being developed by a 'public-private partnership' led by Syngenta, one of the
world's largest pesticide and seed corporations and the owner of the patent
rights involved, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). There is
also a Golden Rice Network spread out in countries like India, Bangladesh,
China, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The
GM rice being field tested, known as Golden Rice, is modified with two genes,
one from bacteria and one from maize, to produce beta carotene, a source of
Vitamin A, in the rice grain. Proponents of Golden Rice say that it could
significantly reduce vitamin A deficiency, which can cause severe illness,
blindness, and even death. But beta carotene is found abundantly in many plants
and fruits that are already cultivated in Asia, such as carrots, pumpkins and
sweet potatoes, and there is no need to put farmers and consumers at risk by
introducing GMOs when these other sources are available.
This
is not the first time that IRRI has tried to introduce a GM rice variety. The
institute has been leading efforts to introduce GM rice in Asia for over a
decade now. But, in each case, strong public resistance has blocked its
efforts. At present, no country in Asia has approved any GM rice variety for
human consumption or commercialisation.
IRRI
and the other promoters of Golden Rice hope that this variety, advertised as a
solution to malnutrition, will break through public opposition to GMOs. In its
public responses to the uprooting of the crop, IRRI has emphasised that the
trials are part of a public project not a corporate one and has dismissed
concerns about the risks involved, saying that the field trials are necessary
to test the efficacy of the rice and its agricultural performance.
But
IRRI is hardly a public institution. Alongside from the funding it receives
from governments, IRRI's work is funded by several private entities that are
strongly in support of GMOs, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
the Rockefeller Foundation and transnational agribusiness corporations like
Bayer, DuPont and Syngenta. IRRI, which orchestrated the “green revolution” of
chemical rice farming in Asia, has moved increasingly into the private sphere
in recent years, not only in terms of funding but also through direct
partnerships with agribusiness corporations, such as with Golden Rice, and by
seeking intellectual property rights (IPRs) over its research. Its new IPR
policy expressly states that it may seek IPRs, such as plant breeders' rights
and patents, on all of its "intellectual assets" (germ plasm included)
and generate revenues from the "management" of these IPRs. IRRI's
gene bank holds approximately 80% of the traditional rice varieties that have
been collected from farmers' fields across the globe,
The
risks posed by field trials of Golden Rice may not mean much to IRRI, but they
are enormous for farmers and consumers in the Philippines and throughout Asia.
There is no way to ensure that a GMO field trial does not contaminate
neighbouring fields. The recent case of an unapproved GM wheat found growing in
a farmer's field in the US or the detection of unapproved GM traits in rice
from China show how field trials lead to contamination and serious consequences
for farmers, consumer and markets. In this case, IRRI, Syngenta and the other
Golden Rice promoters are putting the region's most important cultural, food
and agricultural crop at risk with 800 square meter open field tests of a
variety not approved for human consumption and in an area home to many
traditional varieties cultivated by local farmers.
In
this respect, we would like to voice our support for the action undertaken by
the Peasant Movement of Bicol and Sikwal-GMO, an alliance of farmers, church
people, students, academics and consumers based in Bicol who are struggling
against GMOs and agrochemical transnational corporations, to uproot the Golden
Rice field trials in Pili, Camarines Sur.
We
urge an immediate halt to the other three field trials and the further
development of Golden Rice in the Philippines or elsewhere. No one is fooled by
concerted efforts of IRRI, Syngenta and national agriculture research
institutes to develop Golden Rice as a "poster child" for the GM
industry and to get GM foods accepted under the guise of a humanitarian
mission. Instead, we call on social movements, farmers’ organisations and
people's networks across Asia to join us in supporting the rights of the
farmers and communities, like those in Bicol, to assert food sovereignty and
protect local biodiversity. Local communities have the legitimacy and the right
to say no to GE crops like Golden Rice and defend their health, environment,
territories and livelihoods.
Signed
Contacts:
Biothai:
Witoon Lianchamroon, witoon@biothai.net, +66894497330 (Thailand)
GRAIN:
Kartini Samon, kartini@grain.org, +6281314761305 (Indonesia)