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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] help with data needed
  • Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:33:59 -0400

Danijela Babic wrote:
dear all,
can you help me with links to (independent) studies related to the crop yield comparisons for gmo and no-gmo food, pricing etc.?
does anybody have any data contrasting the ifpr study that says that suicides of farmers in andhra pradesh in india are not connected to the failure of bt crops...
many thanks
danijela babic
zamirnet

I forwarded your message into the sanet-mg list and got this reply:

[Fwd: Re: [SANET-MG] [permaculture] help with data needed]
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] [permaculture] help with data needed
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 02:46:54 -0500
From: Frank A. Schultz, III <wb5ayy@aircanopy.net>
Reply-To: Frank A. Schultz, III <wb5ayy@aircanopy.net>
Organization: Industrial System

Lawrence -

Posted some links on India farmer suicides some time ago - can't remember
who published the reports - most likely the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the
Times, or the Times of India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ . As I
recall, massive crop failures due to drought coupled with the purchase of GM
seeds at about 10 times the price of local native seeds precipitated mass
suicides, which by some estimates numbered into the 100's of thousands.
They likely could have survived the drought with native seeds and they could
have survived 10 X normal cost GM seeds with good rain - but they couldn't
survive high-priced seeds and no rain. They indebted themselves to buy the
GM seeds way beyond any sense, at all.

They tried to buy into American economics using Indian economics - might
marginally work under ideal conditions. Don't know if the GM seed was
touted to have higher yields - which has never been demonstrated in any
significant measure, by the way. Further, as I recall, GM shows lower
nutrient levels than native. The only way GM makes sense is the reduction
of labor thru the use of your favorite juice, glyphosate. But the labor
angle is irrelevant in India, so it has never been clear to me why the
Indians would go for GM... I certainly wouldn't eat the GM stuff I grow...
Forward this on, if you want.

F-




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