Does anyone know of a good source of seeds, especially near Charlotte, NC? --Randall
----- Original Message ----- From: "A. Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 6:49 PM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Seed Companies Want To Ban Farm-saved Seed > So, when the farmers stop farming becauser they can't buy the seed, are > the > big *head honchos* going to go hungry too?? Seems the only route left open > is to "grow yer own" - "they" can't toss everyone in the cooler for having > seeds... remember - we are the many - "they" are the few.... > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org> > Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 9:06 AM > Subject: [Biofuel] Seed Companies Want To Ban Farm-saved Seed > > >> New from GRAIN >> February 2007 >> http://www.grain.org/?nfg=470 >> >> >> SEED COMPANIES WANT TO BAN FARM-SAVED SEED >> >> A new report from GRAIN reveals the new lobbying offensive from the >> global seed industry to make it a crime for farmers to save seeds for >> the next year's planting. This briefing traces the recent discussions >> within the seed industry and explores what will happen if a plant >> variety right becomes virtually indistinguishable from a patent. >> >> BACKGROUND >> >> Seed companies already have strong legal support from governments. In >> many countries, seed laws require farmers to use only certified seed >> of government-approved varieties. That seed is often available only >> from commercial seed companies. >> >> A rapidly increasing number of governments also grant legal monopoly >> rights for commercial seed, by means of industrial patents and >> so-called plant variety protection (PVP). Until recently, both seed >> patents and PVP existed only in developed countries. But since the >> World Trade Organisation (WTO) was created in 1994, all member >> governments must provide some form of monopoly rights on seeds. There >> is now enormous pressure on developing countries to adopt the >> developed country models. Many have been persuaded to join the >> international PVP system, managed by UPOV (International Union for >> the Protection of New Varieties of Plants). In the past ten years, >> UPOV has more than doubled its membership. Most new members are >> developing countries. >> >> The UPOV system was originally set up in 1961, in response to many >> years of lobbying by the seed industry. What the companies really >> wanted was to have industrial patents on seeds. Patents give absolute >> rights to control all uses of the seed, both for planting and for >> further breeding. But at the time many governments felt that patents >> would give industry too much power over farmers. The UPOV PVP was >> created as a compromise. From the beginning, it gave seed companies a >> monopoly on only the commercial multiplication and the marketing of >> seeds. Farmers remained free to save seed from their own harvest to >> plant in the following year, and other breeders could freely use any >> variety, protected or not, to develop a new one. >> >> During the 1980s, the development of genetic engineering attracted >> large transnational companies from the pharmaceuticals and chemical >> sectors into plant breeding. With their much greater lobbying power, >> they began a new offensive to strengthen monopoly rights on plant >> breeding in developed countries. First, they got industrial patents >> on plants bred with genetic engineering (GE) and related techniques. >> This meant, in practice, that they got the absolute monopoly that >> conventional breeders had been refused two decades earlier. >> >> Second, the UPOV PVP rights were radically expanded for all plant >> varieties, GE or conventional. Since 1991, the PVP monopoly has >> applied not only to seed multiplication but also to the harvest and >> sometimes the final product as well. The previously unlimited right >> for farmers to save seed for the following year's planting has been >> changed into an optional exception. Only if the national government >> allows it can farm-saved seed still be used, and a royalty has to be >> paid to the seed company even for seeds grown on-farm. >> >> Third, these much stronger monopoly rights are required for >> membership in the WTO, as already described. This is the starting >> point for the new lobby offensive now being prepared by the global >> seed industry. The goal this time is to remove the few remaining >> differences between the PVP system and patents, so that companies >> will have an absolute monopoly over seeds all over the world, >> regardless of which legal system is used, for all crops and all >> countries. >> >> THE REAL TARGET - FARM-SAVED SEED >> >> Farm-saved seed will be a primary target of this offensive. At least >> two-thirds of the global crop area is currently planted with >> farm-saved seed every year. In many developing countries, it >> represents 80--90 per cent of all seed used, but even in developed >> countries it commonly accounts for a large share (30--60 per cent). >> If farmers were legally forced to plant all of this area with >> commercial seed, it could easily mean a doubling of seed industry >> turnover, that is, an extra US$20 billion annually -- all taken out >> of farmers' pockets and delivered to transnational giants such as >> DuPont, Bayer, Syngenta, and Monsanto. >> >> Another key industry demand will be to restrict or eliminate the >> freedom to use PVP-protected varieties for breeding -- the other >> major difference between the UPOV system and patents. The purpose is >> simply to block competition. If nobody else is allowed to improve on >> a variety until after the term of protection -- 20 years or so -- a >> seed company will be able to sell the unimproved variety for a much >> longer period, and postpone the cost of new research. The net effect: >> increased profits for the PVP owner, higher seed prices and fewer new >> varieties for farmers. >> >> The seed industry has every reason to fear competition from >> farm-saved seed and more innovative independent breeders. Even >> individual farmers can often match or beat the performance of >> commercial varieties by simple on-farm selection. With constantly >> stronger monopoly rights and increasing consolidation into a few >> giant conglomerates, seed companies have produced fewer and fewer >> products of value to farmers. The big strides in yield and resistance >> improvement were made early in the 20th century, before any monopoly >> rights were available on seeds. And those improvements came mainly >> from selecting and crossing the very best of the thousands of farmer >> varieties which had been developed over centuries, not from any >> industry-sponsored research. >> >> The failure of commercial plant breeding has left global agriculture >> badly prepared for the challenges of the near future, such as climate >> change and the need to wean ourselves off dependence on fossil fuels. >> It is now time to start rolling back the monopoly privileges of the >> seed industry, not to strengthen them further. >> >> =========================================================== >> >> GRAIN, The end of farm-saved seed? Industry's wish-list for the next >> revision of UPOV, GRAIN Briefing, February 2007, >> http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=202, available in PDF and HTML. >> The summary in PDF is also available on this page. Also currently >> available in French, and soon in Spanish. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Biofuel mailing list >> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org >> >> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): >> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
