There are points when long-term trends emerge openly in the present, and a
process normally visible only from a distance becomes an unmistakable part
of daily life. The displacement (or better dispossession) of rural petty
cultivators and producers became noticeable with the adoption of “Green
Revolution” expensive technical farming in the 1960s and 1970s, and gathered
speed from the time of the neoliberal “reform” regime adopted by the ruling
class in 1991. Claims were often made that expanded production for export
would create industrial jobs for the masses expelled from the countryside.
Such claims were false. Instead vast slum belts surround the cities, and
brazen claims of employment gains are falsified by the word “informal” and
the misery it denotes. The anguish of this immiserated population echoes
with every price rise of foodstuffs, while yet more cultivators are
dispossessed.

Yet seventy percent of the population is even now rural, and under ever
greater strains. Lakhs of farmer suicides have occurred in the last decade,
and the causes are clear to every honest observer. Neoliberal “reforms”
subjected farmers’ incomes to the wild swings of world speculative markets,
and restricted state subsidised credit to a small minority of cultivators.

Usury, suddenly celebrated for its “market” magic, finished the murderous
job. Even the small minority worthy of credit from the organised banking
sector face a full-scale crisis. Large parts of Punjab and Haryana,
epicentre of “Green Revolution” farming with chemicals, high-yield seeds and
irrigation, now face desertification in the next decades. A recent report by
the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology asserts that the state’s
agriculture “has become unsustainable and nonprofitable.” G.S. Kalkat,
chairman of the Punjab State Farmers Commission, claims that if farmers in
Punjab don’t change the way they grow food, a “Dust Bowl” will result.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102893816> Social
manifestation of this crisis is best described by a report from Punjab.
“Locals call Train No. 339 by a chilling name – “the cancer train.” It
routinely carries at least 60 cancer patients who make the overnight journey
with their families to the town of Bikaner for treatment at the government’s
regional cancer center. Research by one of the most respected medical
institutes in India recently found that farming villages using large amounts
of pesticides have significantly higher rates of cancer than villages that
use less of the chemicals.”

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103569390

The oncoming disaster is not now in dispute on any level. In the recent
budget, an amount of Rs.900 crore has been allocated (i) to extend the green
revolution (!) to the eastern region of the country comprising Bihar,
Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern UP, West Bengal and Orissa; (ii) to organise
60,000 “pulses and oil seed villages” in rain-fed areas during 2010-11 and
provide an integrated intervention for water harvesting, watershed
management and soil health, to enhance the productivity of the dry land
farming areas and (iii) for launching climate resilient agriculture
initiative in the green revolution areas to be sustained through
conservation farming, which involves concurrent attention to soil health,
water conservation and preservation of biodiversity. It is also mentioned
that to spur the growth in this sector, the Government intends to follow a
four-pronged strategy covering (a) agricultural production; (b) reduction in
wastage of produce; (c) credit support to farmers; and (d) a thrust to the
food processing sector.

On the face of it, this section of the budget appears deeply inconsistent;
implicitly acknowledging the disasters that have ensued from the “green
revolution” while pledging to extend it. The cause is that the underlying
program of this government could not be mentioned; the massive introduction
of patented seed owned by the giants of U.S. agribusiness. Only gradually
has this central element-a total subjugation of Indian agriculture to the
dominant U.S. agri-monopoly corporations-slowly emerged into the light of
day. The positive side of this contradiction is that educated opinion is
today so sensitised to the issues that the regime must resort to subterfuge.
The negative side is that the extension of the power of U.S. imperialism
into our most crucial domestic affairs, agriculture and food
security-abetted in every way by the Manmohan Singh government-continues
apace.

The process has been going for a long time. It received a boost during the
visit of Manmohan Singh to the USA and the Joint Statement with U.S.
President George Bush of July 18, 2005 where it was announced that the
Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) agreed to work together for an otherwise undescribed new
“India-U.S. Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture Education, Research,
Services and Commercial Linkages”. An agreement signed at New Delhi on
November 12th, 2005 spelled out the heart of the matter while leaving all
crucial details undisclosed-”A key feature of this Initiative will be a
public-private partnership where the private sector can help identify
research areas that have the potential for rapid commercialization, with a
view to develop new and commercially viable technologies for agricultural
advancement in both countries”. The nuclear agreement occupied the media
when U.S. President George Bush visited India in March, 2006, while the
formal signing of the shadowy deal with which we are concerned-the
“Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture” (KIA)-went largely unnoticed. The KIA
then came into existence, with a Board dominated by representatives of U.S.
agribusiness giants Monsanto, Walmart and Archer Daniels Midland.
Astoundingly, the full details of the KIA deal were still not made public. A
Delhi-based nongovernmental organization (NGO), Gene Campaign, finally
managed to obtain some details under the Right to Information Act. The
details were shocking; the Indian side is required to prostitute its
publicly funded agricultural research to the masters of U.S. agribusiness.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is required to provide
free access to its entire network of 47 agricultural laboratories and
universities for U.S. companies and research institutes to carry out joint
research with ICAR in biotech areas “that have the potential for rapid
commercialization”. (Nature Biotechnology 24, 481, 2006)
A study by Kavitha Kuruganti, based on her reading of the minutes of the KIA
Board’s meetings, reveals:

“While some amount of joint research work seems to be underway, an analysis
of the board meeting minutes so far reveals that a major thrust of the KIA
is to change some important regulatory regimes pertaining to agriculture in
India.

The KIA is expected to lend a focused impetus to changes sought by private
agri-business corporations, including many large American multinational
corporations (MNCs) like Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland Co. Given that
they are on the KIA board, it is impossible that they will not drive as many
changes as possible that would suit their business interests. In more than
two board meetings, there were express points made on how the private sector
could provide more inputs for the regulatory process – this is ironical
given that most regulation in any case is meant to regulate such a private
sector and to protect the interests of consumers and producers. There is an
inherent con?ict of interest in these private players determining the shape
and systems of regulation!

Harmonisation of legislation is mentioned in different contexts including in
the US-India CEO Forum plans. Going through the developments on the KIA
front, it appears that the following regulatory regimes related to Indian
farming/food are being sought to be changed through the KIA: (1) regulation
of genetically modi?ed organisms (GMOs); (2) contract farming; (3) seeds
regulation; and (4) intellectual property rights (IPRs) in agriculture.” -
(Economic & Political Weekly, November 29, 2008)

The true agenda of the KIA-the destruction of the regulatory regime in the
interests of U.S. agribusiness and its Indian coconspirators-has emerged
step by step. In April 2006, the Indian Ministry of Commerce issued a
notification requiring all food import consignments to be certified for
their genetically modified (“GM”) status. The United States objected to this
in the Technical Barriers to Trade committee in the WTO in May 2006 as
discrimination and asked for its suspension. The Manmohan Singh government,
hearing its master’s voice, immediately complied in July 2006, and changed
its regulation for soyabean-related imports. Soon after, Bush administration
undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns boasted of the
success of the Bush “drive” on India “culminating in impressive agreements
regarding civilian nuclear power, trade, science and agriculture with India’s
reformist prime minister, Manmohan Singh.” Burns, in his relatively
unguarded comments, salivates at the prospects now open for U.S. capital:
“While the civilian nuclear initiative has garnered the most attention, the
U.S. and Indian governments have [also] launched joint ventures in
agriculture.”; “Our first priority is to continue giving governmental
support to the huge growth in business between the Indian and American
private sectors”; “.the potential benefits to American interests [are] so
substantial.”; “These are heady times for India and the United States.”

The key sector was identified from the first-the global market for seeds.
U.S. agribusiness has developed seeds with “terminator genes” so that only
one crop can be grown. And even failing such certain means to enslave the
world’s farmers, seeds are patented and U.S. global military power stands
behind its demand that all nations respect its “intellectual property”.

United States multinational corporations already dominate India’s organised
seed market, with more than half of all sales. But eighty percent of India’s
farmers obtain their seeds by traditional means, and not by purchase. And
the Indian regulatory regime, as with every major country in Europe and
Asia, placed strict controls on the introduction of GM seeds in view of the
immense possible health risks and the no less serious threat of the loss of
food sovereignty. On this front the attack would be made.

As with all basic elements of U.S. global imperial policy, the shift from
Bush to Obama left unchanged the well-planned assault on regulatory
resistance to the spread of patented genetically modified seeds:
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it a point to visit the Indian
Agricultural Research . and reiterate her country’s commitment to bringing
about policy changes in the Indian farm sector that US agri-business would
like to see. Clinton said she favoured a strong intellectual property or
patent regime (IPR) to safeguard the ownership of agricultural research, as
that would be in ‘everyone’s interest’. A contention rejected by Indian
agri-policy analysts who say it would primarily benefit owners of
biotechnology research – the MNCs who produce ‘Bt’ seeds, as genetically
modified or GM crops have come to be popularly known (patents would ensure
that no one else would be allowed to produce or sell these seeds). Her
technology advisor, Nina Federoff, is a strong votary of genetically
modified crops, to the extent of being regarded as a spokesperson for US
seed multinationals like Monsanto, Dow and DuPont. In fact, Federoff
triumphantly pointed out to a group of US agri-scientists last year that
although Europe and Japan were cautious about GM foods, Africa and India
were clamouring for them!

The chosen agent for the assault was genetically modified brinjal seed
(“Bt-brinjal”). The careful preparation of the KIA now was brought into
play. As noted above, from the first the KIA, its Board dominated by
Monsanto, Walmart, and Archer Daniels Midland, was focused on placing the
regulatory regime under the control of agribusiness. And it scored an
immediate success over the regulatory regime with the approval of Bt-brinjal
by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC). But a storm of
concerned protest erupted, and at last the entire conspiracy came under
public scrutiny.

Under immense pressure from organisations of farmers, the scientific
community and every species of national-minded public opinion, Union
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh declared a moratorium on the introduction
of Bt-brinjal early in February, 2010. But it quickly developed that he was
relatively isolated in the government, as the immensely wealthy Union
Agriculture Minister Shawar Pawar organised a campaign to reverse the
decision. At the same time a Bt-brinjal propaganda campaign was unleashed in
the mass media, more or less openly financed by the agribusiness interests.
As a sign that what is here at issue is far more serious than any single
such decision, it now appears that the Manmohan Singh regime has prepared
legislation to use the police power to crush opposition to agribusiness and
to wipe out the existing regulatory regime.

According to a report by K. P. Prabhakaran Nair, an agricultural scientist:
“Now, recently two things are happening quietly- First is the drafting of
the draconian Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill (BRAI) which
will be tabled in Parliament soon. The second was the memorandum of
understanding (MoU) between Washington and New Delhi which will make the
American presence in the Indian farm sector very strong. The MoU has been
quietly approved by the Cabinet, against established protocol, without
taking Parliament into confidence. It is titled ‘Agriculture Cooperation and
Food Security’ between India and the US. The MoU is primarily intended to
enable private American investments in the country. It also seeks to
privatise the huge Indian network of agricultural extension. The nutrition
security component of the MoU calls for access of Indians to ‘diverse diet
and diversified and fortified foods’ – a euphemism for genetically modified
(GM) foods. India is a big market and with the draconian Biotechnology
Regulatory Authority of India Bill in the offing, the US government with the
Cabinet’s approval of the MoU will have no problems in dumping GM foods in
the Indian market. The food and nutrition security component will give
access to India’s great genetic diversity of crop plants for
commercialisation to the advantage of the US because of its superior
technological skills. The opening up of food security policy dialogue is
also a matter of great concern, as it will impose on India the US model of
agribusiness and vertical integration of food chain, greatly impacting and
consolidating monopolies, because of the extensive and efficient US
infrastructure. Indian food sovereignty will simply be lost.” <

http://expressbuzz.com/news/corporatising-agriculture/154179.html>

The proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill (BRAI) 2009
criminalises opposition to the agribusiness agenda. Section 63, Chapter 13
of the Bill which deals with various “offences and penalties”, reads
“Whoever, without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public
about the safety of the organisms and products specified in Part I or Part
II or Part III of the Schedule I, shall be punished with imprisonment for a
term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to one
year and with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.” GM
products covered under the Schedule I include genetically engineered plants
and organisms, DNA vaccines, cellular products, gene therapy products, stem
cell products and other such genetically engineered or transgenic products.
“Evidence”, “scientific record” and “misleading” are undefined in the bill.
As for public knowledge of the activities of the new all-powerful
Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India, Section 27 (1) reads
“Disclosure of confidential commercial information, such information shall,
notwithstanding anything contained in the Right to Information Act, 2005, be
retained as confidential by the authority and not be disclosed to any other
party.” Thus the details of BRAI’s decisions on the properties and effects
of all patented genetically modified materials can neither be obtained by
the public, nor legally challenged.

We now see the totalitarian extent of the “strategic alliance” with the
United States. Presented as a “second green revolution” under the benevolent
guidance of U.S. agri-monopoly corporations-Archer Daniel Midland, Cargill,
Monsanto, and Wal-Mart-what we see instead is a further extension of police
control over intellectual and political dissidents. The further introduction
of expensive agricultural technology (and patented seeds cannot be other
than expensive) can only serve to accelerate the dispossession of poor
cultivators. The vagaries of weather and world markets will generate price
rise, hunger, anger and resistance. Which in turn will be met with new
high-technology means of repression courtesy of the same titans of U.S.
private enterprise, ever able to profit from each new disaster.

The reality is that Washington and the U.S. agribusiness giants seek by
patenting life forms to gain worldwide control of food supply. As Henry
Kissinger said in 1970, “control oil and you control nations; control food
and you control the people”. What is at issue is imperialism. The Manmohan
Singh path of subjugation to U.S. capital offers no hope of a way out of the
impending agricultural crisis; rather the reverse. Rational agriculture, in
which humans are able to sustain themselves and to heal the metabolic rift,
is not possible without overthrowing the current system that prizes
production for profit above all else. As Karl Marx said (Capital, vol. III,
chapter 6, section 2), “The moral of the tale is that the capitalist system
runs counter to a rational agriculture, or that a rational agriculture is
incompatible with the capitalist system (even if the latter promotes
technical developments in agriculture) and needs either small farmers
working for themselves or the control of the associated producers”.

Source:Analytical Monthly Review Editorial, April 2010.