Farmers' protests - where were Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and others when these farmers were protesting?

[sandeep]

On 2/12/2021 at 8:41 AM, BacktoCricaddict said:

Which is why you could buy local, but being in NJ, what will grow locally in 20 feet of snow?  FL, CA and MX are your only hope :-)!!

Hey, don't hate on NJ.  and we don't get 20 ft snow in 5 years, forget one.  

 

 

[rock777]

15 hours ago, sandeep said:

Hey, don't hate on NJ.  and we don't get 20 ft snow in 5 years, forget one.  

 

 

Son congrats for becoming moderator

[BacktoCricaddict]

On 2/12/2021 at 3:42 PM, BacktoCricaddict said:

That's because they are full of chemicals.  For example, American bananas have:

 

BTW, I also meant to say that all bananas - American, Russian, Ugandan, Mexican, Costa Rican, Indian (RasbaaLE, PachBaaLe, YaalakkiBaaLe etc.) - grown organically or not organically ... all of them are full of the above chemicals.  

[gattaca]

6 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

BTW, I also meant to say that all bananas - American, Russian, Ugandan, Mexican, Costa Rican, Indian (RasbaaLE, PachBaaLe, YaalakkiBaaLe etc.) - grown organically or not organically ... all of them are full of the above chemicals.  

But isnt it the people who grow dont get incentives for taste but for yield so they pick varieties that give them more yield. Farming doesn't pay well even in US. Most of the fruits are picked early as well like bananas. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

https://www.financialexpress.com/market/commodities/illegal-variety-occupies-about-a-fifth-of-gm-cotton-seed-market/2544367/

 

Quote

etween 2002-03 and 2013-14, which was the ‘golden period’ of Bt cotton, yield rose by 167% and production by 316% while area under cotton cultivation expanded by around 39%. “What happened after that was a technology fatigue and there was no upgradation of varieties coming through the GEAC approval system,” Kaundinya told FE.

“Since the illegal seeds contain unknown and unapproved traits, these could contaminate regular seeds, thereby putting legitimate seed growers at risk,” says an official of a seed company that sells approved Bt cotton seeds.

Anil Ghanwat, president of Swatantra Bharat Party, and a member of the Supreme Court-appointed committee on farm law, said that farmers would continue to use unapproved seeds as it helps them increase production. “The government should facilitate faster approval of newly-developed seeds so that farmers get access to quality seeds and thereby, reduce the labour cost,” Ghanwat said.

Cotton production in the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) declined 5% to 34 million bales (MB) from its peak of 35.9 MB in 2013-14. Textile industry sources said unless technology intervention is expedited, India would not be able to meet the cotton requirement of 45 MB in the coming five years.

 

Commercial cultivation of two GM food crops – brinjal and mustard – approved by GEAC are yet to start in India even a decade after the approvals because the government hasn’t yet decided in favour of GM foods.

 

GOI's development goals don't seem to apply to agricultural biotechnology access to farmers.  Despite the legitimate GEAC body's legitimate studies documenting the safety of GM crops (there should be no concern anyway about this - genes are genes are genes are DNA) - GoI seems more intent on promoting natural, low-yield, unproductive farming (https://www.niti.gov.in/natural-farming-niti-initiative), while dragging their feet on technology with a proven track record of productivity and safety.  So, what do farmers do?  Get the agbiotech varieties illegally, often not even knowing if the traits are in the illegal seed. 

 

Damn ... I miss Atalji and his real commitment to progress and development - not some warped "our ancestors knew best" worldview that seems to drive ag policy these days.   

Edited June 2, 2022 by BacktoCricaddict

[BacktoCricaddict]

Just as a reminder.  Natural farming ka nateeja:

 

https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/the-indian-connection-behind-sri-lankas-disastrous-environmental-wokeness-4962938.html

 

The most important issue with organic farming is its low productivity. On average, yields from organic farming are around 20% lower than conventional farming. Science is looking for a solution by developing tailor-made varieties for organic farming but currently, conventional farming crop varieties when used in organic mode are continuing to suffer from poor yield.

The Indian connection

Sri Lankan troubles have an interesting Indian connection. It was on the advice of Vandana Shiva, an Indian Environmentalist, that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took the decision to ban chemical fertilisers in 2021. Shiva is known for her firebrand activism against anti-modern agrarianism fetching her many awards but also tonnes of criticism. It was her organisation Navdanya International that was advising the Sri Lankan government, an achievement she proudly displayed on her blog.

World over, Organic Farming is a hotly contested issue. While the environmentalists and anti-modern farming activists lobby for organic farming citing its benefits for the environment, research exists that proves organic farming is not as eco-friendly as claimed. In fact, evidence suggests that it may destroy the ecosystem even more. Some also say organic farming isn’t as organic as it is made out to be with some organic pesticides being more harmful than synthetic ones. Plus the low yields mean wastage of more water and farmlands leading to the non-availability of land for other species that might go extinct.

 

Back home in India, inspired by the Sikkim example which has earned the tag of “100% Organic” state, many other states including Kerala are considering going organic. However, despite the accolades that Sikkim receives, the dark reality of its organic story is that it is dependent on nearby West Bengal for its food security. The yields have fallen and farmers are dissatisfied with the government for not banning agricultural products from outside the state which are cheaper in comparison to their ‘organic only’ produce.

The truth remains that organic food on the table is a luxury for our times. In ancient times, the population was low and all farming was organic by default. In the current times, there is a trade-off between food security and 100% organic produce. Though science is still working on how to deliver organic food without compromising its productivity. Till then, sensible policies and not wokeness is the only logical road ahead.

[BacktoCricaddict]

And if one is really serious about biodiversity and species-conservation, then they will embrace high-yield (more food on less land), intensive farming approaches rather than agroecological models that emphasize sharing ag land with nature.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTVC32Bfl-U