Ripening soya beans in field near Harbin.
All of us concerned about genetically engineered (GE) crops have
been losing sleep for a while over the relentless take-over of
traditional fields in many parts of the world. Now, a new report
reveals how thoroughly Argentina has been taken over, and outlines
previously unimagined dangers for our future when an entire
country's agricultural system is invaded by a clone-replicating
force like Monsanto.
Within the last 10 years, Argentina's agricultural production
system has become dominated by one crop: the genetically engineered
Roundup Ready soybean developed by US agrochemical company
Monsanto. The large scale environmental, social, and economic
impact is unprecedented.
Agronomist Charles Benbrook warns that the planting of 14
million hectares (34 million acres) of a single, genetically
homogenous crop has created a highly vulnerable agricultural
production system.
Pods vs. SuperWeed
Argentine soy production uses GE seeds that are resistant to the
herbicide glyphosate, marketed under the trade name "Roundup."
Roundup Ready soy relies on repeated herbicide applications to
control weeds. As every high school student knows, Nature abhors an
herbicide, and finds ways to evolve around it. Already, strains of
Roundup-resistant weeds have appeared in Argentina, requiring
ever-heavier doses of the poison, killing off microbes and
degrading soil quality. Heavy herbicide applications and widespread
planting of Roundup Ready soybeans has also led to increases in
pest and disease severity. And when fungi and other threats to the
crop encounter none of the natural diversity barriers to their
spread, the possibility of monoculture crop collapse increases
significantly.
Take us to your feeders
But unlike the devastating Irish potato famine of the nineteenth
century, the soy Argentina grows isn't actually feeding people. The
vast majority (above 80 percent) of soybeans are bound for animal
feedlots, providing protein for cattle, hogs and poultry. The
European Union (EU) is the largest importer of Argentinean soybean
meal. Worse, farmland which once produced subsistence crops and
legume forages now produce only soybean monocultures. From 1996 to
2002 (the period of major soybean production expansion) the number
of Argentineans lacking access to basic nutrition grew from 3.7
million to 8.7 million. Production of meat, dairy products, and
eggs has dropped significantly, to be replaced by soybeans destined
for export markets.
Sound like an alien force is taking over? The invasion doesn't
stop there.
Can't see the forest for the beans
After Roundup Ready technology was introduced in 1996, the pace
of land conversion has increased dramatically. The soybean frontier
has expanded deeper and deeper into the ecosystems of Argentina,
with 5.6 million hectares of non-agricultural land converted for
soybean production since 1996. That compares to 2.4 million
hectares converted before 1996. The rate at which forests in
Northern Argentina are being turned into soy plantations is 3-6
times higher than the world average. The massive destruction of the
forests, in particular of the Yungas and Chaco forests, has sparked
violence and protests by agrarian families desperate to preserve
their land. These forests also support diverse animal populations,
including jaguars, pumas, monkeys, and more than 50% of all bird
species of Argentina.
Monopoly + monoculture = Mon$anto
You'd expect that such a rapid expansion of soy production in
Argentina must mean big, big profits for the Argentine nation,
right? Think again. Not only is Roundup Ready soy a monoculture,
it's controlled by a monopoly. Monsanto Corporation, the American
owners of the patent on both Roundup and Roundup Ready soy, sets
the price for both the herbicide and the crop. Glyphosate prices
are going up in Argentina, and Monsanto has announced that it
intends to collect retroactive royalty payments, and aggressively
enforce patent laws on Roundup Ready technology. Adios to the
profit margin for the farmer, howdy big bucks for Monsanto.
To a nation suffering from international debt, rising
unemployment, and widespread poverty, Roundup Ready soybean
production has offered little compensation, and Argentina's
economic vulnerability is worsened by the volatile world soybean
market.
A recent report by a team of US scientists found that Argentina
soybeans contain 5-10 percent less protein, with lower levels of
important amino-acids, than soybeans from competing countries. Poor
quality soybeans also means less revenue. Buyers of Argentina
soybeans will likely seek price concessions. And in Europe,
widespread consumer rejection of GE soy means little market for
human food production.
First, we take Buenos Aires, then we take Beijing
Like any good alien invasion, this one is bent on global
domination. China is a major importer of Argentinean soybeans.
Because China is the centre of biodiversity for soy, any
contamination of the wild soybean species there could alter natural
soybean evolution irrevocably. And accidental release during
import, transport or processing poses a major risk to related wild
soybean species.
Take action
We demand:
- Not one single hectare of forest or other natural ecosystems
should be converted to soy plantations in Argentina. We call on the
Argentine government to take immediate action to protect
Argentina's forests and on international institutions and banks to
stop financing unsustainable agriculture and forest conversion in
the region.
- The use of genetically engineered soy in Argentina should be
phased out with a view to implementing a ban on all genetically
modified organism (GMO) releases. The Argentine government must
respect consumer opposition to GMOs by providing its citizens the
right to reject GMOs through mandatory food and feed labelling and
withdraw from the US-led WTO case against the (now historical) de
facto ban on GMO approvals by the European Union.
- The European Union - a key market for Argentine GE soy (used
for animal feed) - should ban Roundup Ready soy . Greenpeace calls
on EU Member States not to re-approve Roundup Ready soy when
Monsanto's approval for use of Roundup Ready soy expires in 2006.
Moreover, the EU must provide its citizens the right to reject GMOs
in food production by introducing mandatory GE labelling for eggs,
meat and dairy products if GE animal feed has been used.
- In China - another major market for Argentine GE soy - the risk
of genetic contamination of the worlds' centre of soy biodiversity
through GE soy imports must be acknowledged. Strong measures to
avoid such contamination must be taken by the importers of GE soy
and the Chinese government, by banning GE soy imports into
China.
Don't close your
eyes! Become a cyberactivist today and fight against the takeover
of planet Earth.