Jan. 14, 2014 Yesterday a report was released that China has refused tons of US GMO corn and today the news from Brazil is another nail in the GMO coffin.
There is a GMO soybean invasion of plantations in Brazil and farmers are footing the bill having to purchase additional pesticides to kill Bt toxin resistant caterpillars. Farmers who did not plant GMO corn are having to spray with many does of pesticides which is costing them more money.
Also farmers in the Campo Verde area who did not cultivate GMO corn found the plants in their land having come from nearby farms that use GMO glyphosate-resistant corn. The plants have to be weeded out manually by hand with a hoe in large farms which is labor intensive and costly as well as the addition of more pesticides they must purchase from the same corporation.
Quote by GM Watch “The meltdown of GM farming in Brazil continues, with a plague of Bt toxin-resistant caterpillars giving way to an invasion of Roundup Ready corn acting like a weed in soybean fields
As usual, farmers are paying the price. They are being forced to buy additional herbicides to kill the weedy Roundup-tolerant corn or even to return to hand-hoeing.” end quote
In October of 2013, a Brazilian judge blocked Monsanto from forcing farmers to sign a restrictive agreement on GMO soybeans. The legal action was brought out against Monsanto from farmers in the Mato Grosso region. The findings by the Brazil Supreme Court wer that Monsanto collected royalties from farmers illegally for GMO soybeans and that the company must refund the farmers. Some farmers foolishly signed away their rights and allow Monsanto to enter their property, do inspections at any time.
The Brazilian farmer basically signed off his rights to sue, or to object to any royalty fee increases and basically let a US corporation dictate the rules of their so called patent GMO seed RR2. Monsanto took unfair advantage of farmers who may have been hoodwinked into signing papers they didn’t understand.
The judge ruled in favor of the farmers.
10 Years of Crop Failures Globally – GMO Corporations Have Deceived Farmers
The film entitled “10 Years of Failure, Farmers Deceived by GM corn” shows the dire situation of corn farmers in the Philippines who have adopted GM corn. Amidst protests from farmers, scientists, consumers and basic sectors, GM corn was commercialized in the Philippines in 2003. At present, there are about 8 varieties of single, stacked-trait and pyramided GM corn approved by the government for direct planting. It is now planted in about 685,317 hectares of agricultural land allotted for corn.
The film documentary is based on the study done by MASIPAG on the socio-economic impacts of GM corn on farmers’ lives and livelihood after more than 10 years of commercialization. In the film, GM corn farmers relate how they became indebted because of the rising cost of GM corn seeds and increasing cost and quantity of inputs being used. The film also shared the farmers account on the effect of GM corn farming such as emergence of new pests, soil erosion, corn contamination and human and animal health impacts. Farmers also shared the difficulty to go back to traditional or organic corn farming because of the loss of traditional seeds and practices replaced by GM corn farming and the effects of neighboring GM corn plantations. The film documentary covers the islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
For more information on the study, please visit www.masipag.org.
Film produced by Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) and KI Multimedia