Wednesday, August 26, 2015

NEWS : Answering 'Resistance From All Sides,' Germany Moves to Ban GMO Crops

Published on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 by Common Dreams
 
Following Scotland's lead, Germany becomes latest in EU to pursue opt-out clause in GMO rules
 
A protest against GMOs takes place outside of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. (Photo: Greenpeace Germany/flickr/cc)
Germany on Monday became the latest country in the European Union to take a stand against genetically modified (GMO) crops in its food supply.
German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt told government officials that he will seek to implement the European Union's "opt-out" rule to stop GMO crop cultivation in the country, including those varieties which may be approved by the EU, according to documents seen by Reuters this week.
Individual regions in Germany will have until September 11 to inform Schmidt if they wish to be included in the opt-out. Germany will then have until October 3 to tell the EU whether or not it will participate in the cultivation program.
As agriculture ministry spokesperson Christian Fronczak told Bloomberg, "The German government is clear in that it seeks a nationwide cultivation ban."
"There’s resistance from all sides, from the public to the farmers," Fronczak said.

Scotland was the most recent country to ban GMOs across the board, which it announced earlier this month. At the time, rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead said concerns over GMO crops are "shared by other European countries and consumers, and which should not be dismissed lightly."
In response to Germany's move, Scottish National Party (SNP) minister Rob Gibson on Tuesday said, "Like Scotland, the German Government recognises the importance of protecting its food and drink sector and keeping its environment clean and green.... The German decision shows that Scotland is now also leading Europe on GM crops."
"Germany has committed a true act of food democracy by listening to the majority of its citizens that oppose GMO cultivation and support more sustainable, resilient organic food production that doesn’t perpetuate the overuse of toxic herbicides," Lisa Archer, food and technology director at environmental nonprofit Friends of the Earth, told Common Dreams in response to the move. "We are hopeful that more members of the EU will follow suit and that the U.S. Congress will protect our basic right to know what we are feeding our families by requiring mandatory GMO labeling."
Schmidt's letter said the new effort continues a previous GMO policy. As of October 2014, more than 200 regions in the country had elected to ban cultivation of such crops.
The EU in April approved the import of 19 GMOs, including 11 made by agrochemical giant Monsanto, but gave individual nations in the union the choice to opt out of selling such crops. At the time, food safety spokesperson for the Greens in the European Parliament, Bart Staes, said the approval was "an affront to democracy."
"European citizens do not want GMOs," Staes said.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Chandigarh Declaration : Farmers are also citizens of India. they too deserve to live

Chandigarh, Aug 21: Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian society but has been in crisis for the past several decades. This is starkly visible in the fact that 305,926 farmers have committed suicide in the past 20 years. In the past few months, hundreds of farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Punjab. The situation is so alarming that every hour, two farmers commit suicide somewhere in the country. Lakhs of farmers are continuing to suffer with debt burden, crop failure, lack of remunerative prices, high private investment into borewells, and lack of support systems from the government.
 
This crisis of the farming community is a policy-driven crisis. Farm suicides are policy genocide. Though the governments have changed and different parties have been in power, the government policies have been such that farmers’ livelihoods have been consigned to low priority with the underlying push towards corporate-controlled agriculture. Due to this, the farming community is unable to come out of the crisis and the farmer suicides are continuing.
 
In this context, 40 prominent farmer organizations from across the country, representing lakhs of farmers, met at Chandigarh for three days 19-21st August  to collectivize our strength to bring farmers in the centre of the national discourse. We have formed a federation of farmer organisations, called “Kisan Ekta”. The main aim of the Forum of Farmers Movements is to have farmer-centric policies at the state and national levels. The basic idea is to restore the voice of the farming community and the bring back the pride in farming.
 
For this we resolve that
Farmers are also citizens of India but have treated like second class citizens who are systematically discriminated against.
 
Farmers are amongst the lowest earning class in the country. The cost of production and the pricing policies are primarily to keep the interests of the consumers and the industry. The forum demands income security for farmers who continue to feed the nation against all odds.  An Income Commission needs to be immediately set up to ascertain the right income for farming families in different regions.
 
Recognising that farmers often are used as political raw material for electoral gains and electoral promises are never kept by the parties after coming to power. Farmer Organisations will now strive to set the political agenda on their own terms.
·   All policies related to agriculture, national as well as regional, should be farmer centric and not production centric as of now. Farmer too is a human being. He also needs to support and bring up his family. It is time they get their due share for feeding the nation. Therefore Farmers’ profits and income should be the mantra and not prices and subsidies
·         Public investments in agriculture should be increased to improve research, extension and market services and make them accountable. At present, public investment in agriculture is less than that for MNREGA. Agriculture is being deliberately ignored so that farmers are forced to migrate to cities.
·         Crop insurance should be made farmer friendly. It should also provide insurance for any price shock.
·         Farmer suicides are increasing and govt should immediately take steps to rehabilitate the families affected.
 
We urge all the Indian citizens to stand up with farmers in their struggle. Do care for those who feed the nation.
 
Devinder Sharma hunger55@gmal.com 09811301857
Balbir Singh Rajewal
Kodihalli Chandrashekhar