A January 2023 report from Philip H. Howard, PhD updates his previous work on consolidation trends in the seeds and agrochemical industries during the past couple of decades, and focuses on the most-recent (2018–2022) developments. The net conclusion is that the four largest agrochemical companies — Bayer (Monsanto), BASF, Corteva, and Sinochem (which recently subsumed ChemChina/Syngenta) — are exerting increasing leverage over an agricultural system that concentrates power and wealth, while threatening health, the environment, and access to food. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) summarises some aspects of the situation in saying, “Land and seed once belonged to no one and were shared by all, replicating the giving essence of the natural world. Today, these precious resources are tightly controlled and commoditised inputs. The modern US food and agriculture system is designed to maximise a narrow concept of economic efficiency which fails to prioritise the well-being of small family farmers, rural communities, or the land.” Beyond Pesticides

 

 

British science after Brexit will need to set “realistic” ambitions if it is excluded from the EU’s own schemes, and focus on key areas where it can sustain a leading role, according to the UK science minister. George Freeman cited examples such as agritech and gene editing of crops; space; biosecurity; synthetic biology and research into the growing sector of functional foods. He said there is a “huge opportunity” for the UK in these areas because Brexit allows the country to become “a global testbed" and regulate in an “agile” and “responsive” way. [GMW: This raises the spectre of England and potentially the UK becoming the Hawaii of Europe in terms of playing host to acres of experimental GM crops, which are repeatedly sprayed with pesticides, causing serious health problems in exposed residents. See this article, for example.] Politico

 

 

Recently GMWatch announced in our Daily Digest some findings from yet another in a series of studies carried out by different groups of scientists over many years showing that the spread of GM glyphosate-tolerant crops is a major cause of the decline of monarch butterflies in the US. The glyphosate herbicide sprayed on these crops kills the milkweed that is the sole food for monarch larvae. In response to our report, Michigan organic farmer Don Dunklee sent us some beautiful photographs of the monarchs that he and his wife Barb encourage to breed in one of their greenhouses. Read the article and view the images! GMWatch

 

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