Golden Rice & GM wheat: the corporate lobby's last-ditch attempts to impose GMOs

Almost simultaneously, in Southeast Asia and the Southern Cone of Latin America, steps are being taken to approve new GMOs which our different entities and networks have long resisted. Peasant farmers and social and environmental organisations, and even people in the scientific field, have been fighting against commercial release of these seeds for decades in some cases.

In Asia, the GMO concerned is Golden Rice. This has just been authorised in the Philippines¹, where on 21^st July 2021 the Department of Agriculture granted a biosafety permit for commercial propagation of genetically modified Golden Rice. Bangladesh may also follow suit – surprisingly, this controversial decision by the Philippine authorities is seen by some as an example to follow for the Bangladeshi regulatory authorities, which have not given approval over the past few years.

When genetically modified seeds were first promoted, at the end of the 80s and start of the 90s, the corporate lobby announced that the second and third generation of these would bring huge benefits to solve world hunger, by providing more nutritious food which would be better adapted to the climate conditions of the different regions. In the meantime, we would have to settle for the herbicide and pesticide-resistant GMOs which began to be cultivated in the mid-90s.

The reality of the past 30 years has confirmed what we stated in the first edition of the magazine Biodiversidad, sustento y culturas (Biodiversity, sustainability and cultures): “herbicide-resistant crops will lead to an increase in sales of herbicides produced by the same company, or a different one. However, it makes less sense for small farmers in the Third World and in terms of food security: more agrochemicals mean more expense, more damage to the environment, and more risks to food security.” ²

In Atlas del Agronegocio Transgénico³ del Cono Sur (Atlas of GM Agri-business in the Southern Cone), we confirm all of the risks highlighted more than two decades ago, and show the full extent of the damage caused by the GM agricultural model in the region of the planet where cultivation of glyphosate-resistant GM soya and maize has been imposed on a massive scale.

The authorisation of Golden Rice is the first time a genetically modified rice has been approved in South and South-East Asia, a region where this food is one of the main staple crops. Farmers from this region have developed thousands of native rice varieties, and many of these continue to ensure the food security and meet the dietary and cultural needs of the population. The threat of these varieties being contaminated by genetically modified types of rice is now imminent.⁴

Local groups in the Philippines, such as Masipag, have challenged this decision by the BPI (Bureau of Plant Industry), and have highlighted the lack of transparency, the absence of public consultation, and the lack of any full, independent analysis of risks and impacts during the approval procedure for commercial cultivation of Golden Rice. Time and time again, civil society groups, farmers’ organisations, and worried citizens of the Philippines have expressed their concern about the health risks which genetically modified Golden Rice could pose, particularly because rice is a popular staple food for millions of Filipinos. Despite these worries, the BPI has gone ahead with this decision, which highlights the procedural shortcomings in the commercial release such as the absence of any significant public participation in the decision-making process, conflict of interests, as well as problems with the appeal process, with the basis for the decision to grant a biosafety permit, and with the use of the principle of “substantial equivalence”. Commercial propagation will also call into question consumers’ and farmers’ freedom of choice, due to the risk of cross contamination.

The authorisation of Hb4 wheat has been strongly contested in Argentina and Brazil. Here are some of the arguments which social movements have raised in both countries: ⁵

GM crops have been a resounding failure from an agronomic perspective, and are clearly resisted by consumers around the world. They have, of course, provided absolutely no benefit for the world’s food supply. Corporate strategies to promote them are now taking two angles:

Neither of these strategies seem likely to succeed. Regarding the second tactic, huge numbers of lies and falsehoods have been used ever since attempts to impose these technologies began, and we have documented these in detail.⁶

Behind these GMOs lies a key strategic issue for corporate power: rice and wheat are crops which have not yet been fully colonised by the corporate seed industry. GMOs are essential for agribusiness to be able to take control of the seed markets for these crops, because corporations have not managed to roll out hybrids on a large scale, and because farmers save a very high percentage of their rice and wheat seeds for use the next year. Although the official line is that Golden Rice will be available for unrestricted use by small farmers, this is a first step towards the introduction of more patented transgenic traits into the rice, which will lead to restrictions on farmers’ ability to save seeds, thus completing the commodification of these crops. The same applies to wheat, and indeed Bioceres, the company which is trying to impose it, places great emphasis on the importance of intellectual property rights. It has also clearly displayed its intention to try to bring about modification of the Argentinian Seeds Law so that it can keep control of its biotechnological developments.⁷ The importance it attaches to intellectual property is such that in November 2020 it announced that it was buying 94 patents and patent applications from the US firm Arcadia Biosciences Inc, “which seek to improve the nutritional and industrial qualities of flour and its derivatives”.⁸

Meanwhile, peasant agroecology, seed and crop diversity, and the centrality of small farmers and local markets have proved to be the correct way forward. They are gaining ground every day in a world which, in the light of the many crises facing us, urgently needs to dismantle corporate power in agriculture, in order to end the great crime of continued world hunger, and make headway with policies and actions to implement vital new paradigms.