AGRICULTURE: SEED INDUSTRY PROFITEERS THREATEN ...
OTC 11.09.98 02:15
WASHINGTON, (Sep. 10) IPS - Profit-inspired mergers and acquisitions within the seed
industry, which give tremendous control to a handful of corporations, are a threat to
small farmers and public research, say agricultural experts.
"The global seed industry is positioning itself to dictate the future of plant
breeding," says the non-governmental Rural Advancement Foundation International
(RAFI).The group has tracked the social and economic impact of new agricultural
technologies and patents on rural societies for more than 20 years.
"The seed trade is now dominated by giants whose vast economic power and control over
plant germplasm has effectively marginalised the role of public sector plant breeding and
research," say RAFI analysts.
As merger after merger is announced in the agricultural biotechnology field, farmers and
researchers fear a handful of global corporations will use their control over
biotechnology to ensure profits for themselves, whatever the impact on agriculture.
Large transnational agro-chemical companies -- mostly based in industrialised countries --
believe that their biologically manufactured seeds, containing traits to yield a larger
crop or be resistant to herbicides, insects and pests, give farmers better choices. But
many experts fear the technological developments could put an end to the farming tradition
of saving some of the harvest as seed for next year's crop.
The top 10 companies in the field now have about 30 percent of the $23 billion commercial
seed trade, according to RAFI. The three leading firms -- Pioneer Hi-Bred International,
Monsanto and Novartis -- have combined seed revenues of more than four billion dollars per
year. Other companies in the top ten include Advanta of the UK and Netherlands, U.S.-based
AgriBiotech and Sakata of Japan.
Given the increasing reliance of public plant-breeding programs on corporate financial
support, the future looks particularly worrisome, say agriculture experts.
"You're going to have control of the research agenda held by three or four
companies," Carl Eibl, head of the biotech firm Mycogen, told reporters.
The U.S.-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the largest seed company in the world, and
other seed giants are identifying, mapping, and controlling key crop genes and their link
to agronomically significant traits. RAFI analysts warn this already has led to a handful
of companies having a "virtual high-tech stranglehold" on plant germplasm at the
molecular level.
According to Ben Bowen, Pioneer's Genome Coordinator, the company has identified over
300,00 partial gene sequences for corn. Pioneer and DuPont have developed a major plant
breeding research alliance, with DuPont holding half a million gene fragments for a
variety of species.
The U.S.-based Monsanto corporation, now the world's largest agro- chemical company and
the third largest seed enterprise, has been dubbed by RAFI as the 'Microsoft of
microbiology.' Monsanto reportedly has spent more than eight billion dollars in the past
two year buying biotechnology businesses and becoming the world leader in cotton seed
sales.
Several months ago, Monsanto agreed to buy Cargill Inc.'s seed operations in Africa, Asia,
Central and Latin America, and Europe for a reported $1.4 billion. The proposed deal would
include seed research, production and testing facilities in 24 countries and sales and
distribution systems in 51 countries.
It further consolidated its position in the bio-technology sphere by purchasing Delta and
Pine Land Co., Plant Breeding International of Cambridge, UK and DeKalb Genetics
Corporation.
Before it was bought out by Monsanto, Delta and Pine, in coordination with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, developed seeds containing a 'Terminator' gene. Seeds
containing such a gene will be sterile so farmers cannot store them for future planting.
"We call it terminator technology because it will force farmers to return year after
year for their seeds," says Hope Shand, a researcher at RAFI. Monsanto has said the
new technology will be targeted for use in developing countries with giant, untapped seed
markets like China, India and Pakistan.
Monsanto also found itself in hot water when its biologically engineered "Roundup
Ready" cotton seeds delivered inferior yields. The cotton seed was created to resist
harm from crop spraying with Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. The company reportedly offered
several million dollars to more than 60 farmers in Mississippi to settle complaints.
Monsanto's previous acquisitions made the corporation a major player in agricultural
biotechnology, but its $33 billion merger with American Home Products in June established
the corporation as the largest agro-chemical firm and second largest seed company. The
combined stock market valuation of the two companies is $96 billion.
"When you have that kind of concentration of technology and that kind of
concentration of breeding programs, what's the target?" asks Mycogen's Eibl. "Do
you have a target that will attack famine?"
While Eibl believes that corporate seed giants will respond if the press, international
organisations and farmers press for research that benefits the public and not just the
bottom line, others are not so optimistic.
"Consolidation of the industry will lead to a small number of companies dictating
public and private research priorities," say RAFI researchers. In the United States,
for example, as government researchers scramble for funding, scientists are increasingly
turning to industry.
"We see more and more of our scientists go out and compete for grants and try to get
money from industry," says Henry Shands, assistant administrator for genetic
resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.
"And that makes us more beholden to industry."
Copyright 1998