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https://worldsensorium.com/open-source-seeds-loosen-big-ags-grip-on-farmers/>
"When Jack Kloppenburg looks out over his sprawling vegetable garden in rural
Wisconsin, he sees half a dozen arm-thick green-striped squash called
Candystick Dessert Delicata, and a gaggle of bright yellow Goldini squash among
the lush green. “These are so delicious!” he exclaims with all the enthusiasm
only a lifelong gardener can muster. But what’s special about the vegetables is
not just their taste: They have all been grown from open source seeds developed
by Oregon farmer Carol Deppe, a Harvard-trained geneticist and board chair of
the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI).
Most people have heard of open source software, maybe also of open source beer
(Free beer for all!) or open source pharmaceutical research. The principle is
the same: Someone developed the seeds — for cowpeas, corn, rye and more — and
now offers the resource for everybody to share.
Just like software development has been co-opted by a few global companies like
Microsoft and Apple, the international seed development and trade, too, is
controlled by a few big giants like Bayer (Monsanto), Corteva (DuPont) and
ChemChina (Syngenta). A 2012 Oxfam study found that four companies dominate
more than 60 percent of the global trade with grains.
When we buy cereal or bread, few pay attention to the fact that most grains are
protected or even patented. Most farmers don’t own the seeds they sow on their
fields. “They are renting them,” Kloppenburg, professor emeritus at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-founder of OSSI says with disgust. The
problem with that? “A few global companies have the monopolies on global seed
trade, and they breed cash crops like corn and soy, purely for money. They
don’t care about biodiversity, world hunger or about the small farmer.” What
sounds like a business problem impacts everybody, Kloppenburg insists. “These
few gene giants on top of the food chain decide what ends up on our plates.”
In 2012, Kloppenburg and half a dozen like-minded agriculture experts founded
OSSI as an alternative to the monopolies. OSSI’s aim is the “free flow and
exchange of genetic resources, of plant breeding and variety development,”
Kloppenburg says. With global warming, disease and changing climatic patterns,
“we need novel plant varieties that are capable of responding to the changes.
Farm to table is popular, but we really need to talk about seed to table.”
The movement faces an uphill battle, particularly in the US where most farmers
plant seeds that are patented by the big corporations. Still, about 50 seed
breeders have already signed on with OSSI in the US to offer nearly 500 seed
varieties. And other open source seed organizations are making their own way in
Europe, Argentina, India and more."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
