Rice is not a water plant - Part 5

Given the forces aligned against them, the simple answer to the question Is there a glimmer of hope for those farmers in Indonesia who want to retain a semblance of independence? is 'no'. With the decentralisation of governments to the provincial and regency level, there are few if any safeguards to protect local communities.That is how Indonesia has permitted the planting of genetically modified crops without public consultation and without adequate legal protection for farmers, consumers and the environment. The business and military communities act with the connivance of the politicians, who only manage to get themselves elected because they have the backing of those communities.

For example, on March 15th 2001, forty tons of genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds arrived from South Africa at Hasanuddin airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The seeds were trucked away under armed guard, Indonesian military police, to be sold to farmers in seven districts in the province. They were imported by PT Monagro Kimia the Indonesian subsidiary of US-based agro-chemical giant, Monsanto.

Local NGO activists opposing the imports tried to block the trucks from leaving the airport. They said the seed should be quarantined for detailed examination before distribution and accused the company of attempting to disguise what they were doing by using trucks marked "rice delivery".

What makes this show of might even more disturbing is that Monsanto and various governments, probably including the Indonesian cabinet, already knew that these seeds were not viable and contained antibiotic resistance genes that would make gonorrhea untreatable.

Fortunately (?), it transpires that the GM cotton failed to out-perform the indigenous variety in all but one of the 9 districts. Worse yet, the GM cotton succumbed to drought and the brown hopper.

After two considerably reduced harvests, Monsanto withdrew from South Sulawesi in 2003 and the farmers received no compensation. Of course.

This arrogance was possibly first practiced in East Timor, when, during Indonesia's occupation, many farmers were using and dependent on very expensive equipment that they could not produce or afford, such as tractors, chemical fertilizers, hybrid seeds, pesticides and other chemical products.

This dependency continued with the connivance of the UN's transitional mission, with assistance from the World Bank, which imported these things without studying traditional agricultural methods, the condition of the land and water, or the topography of East Timor.

"The tractors and hand tools they have given us are expensive to maintain and replace when they break down. The hybrid seeds that we are asked to plant will not provide for us in the next harvest. Although they yield more, hybrid seeds only produce one crop. Next year, we will have to buy more seeds. Like it or not, this is the current situation we face in East Timor."

More connections between the military and seed companies have been seen in Lampung, South Sumatra, which V.P. Jusuf Kalla visited this past week.

On Thursday, 28 September 2006,Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono, signed a decree for releasing hybrid rice, namely Bernas Super (GH-2) and Bernas Prima (GH-7)’ both two hybrid rice varieties produced and marketed by PT Sumber Alam Sutera.

In conjunction with releasing these two hybrid rice varieties the promoters conducted first harvesting in the rice field 6.000 Sq meters located near the district military area (Kodim) in Tanggamus Lampung province. Among others there were DG food crop and the chief military commander oversee Region II Sriwijaya Mayor General Syarifuddin Tippe, the Lampung Governor Syahrudin Z Pagar Alam, Tomy Winata, and hundreds of farmers. (SH, 30Sep06)

Of course, one could argue that securing food resources in a country prone to floods, drought and all kinds of disasters, both manmade and natural, is a key function of the military, except that the Indonesian military is supposed to have withdrawn from its previous, Suhartoist, 'territorial function' in order to focus on foreign threats rather than internal ones.

But the seed companies have other sections of the state apparatus to protect their interests.

In East Java, publicly listed PT Bisi International, a division of Thai major seed company, Charoen Pokphand, is aiming to raise its net profit to Rp 91 billion in 2007, up 50 percent from Rp 60.7 billion last year, by researching better seeds and improving cooperation with farmers.

Bisi International, which grows and markets corn, rice and vegetable seeds has the capacity to produce 15,000 tons of field crop seeds and 4,000 tons of fruit and vegetables seeds each year.

The company has built 11 experimental farms in North Sumatra, Lampung, West Java, Central Java, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara to test new seed varieties. Also, to support its ongoing research and development, the company has also built a biotechnology research laboratory in Sumber Agung village, Kediri Regency, East Java.

The number of farmers working to grow the company’s hybrid rice and corn has reached more than 45,000, on more than 15,000 hectares of land. In 2002, just 15,000 farmers used 4,900 hectares to test the crops.

That's phenomenal growth, so how does it encourage co-operation with farmers, a co-operation which has been likened to fascism?

PT BISI, either stands for Benih Inti Subur Intani or Bright Indonesia Seed Industry

Asian Farmers broke this story a year ago today: Since 2003, around 10 peasants in Kediri regency have either been sued in court or put in jail after being accused by PT Bisi, a seed company, of illegal breeding and stealing of company seeds.

One of those farmers was Tukirin, a simple 53-year-old corn grower in Nganjuk Regency. He was punished with a suspended prison sentence and was ordered not to plant his own corn seeds for one year. Do read his story in depth and try to find the justification for not allowing Tukirin legal representation, for PT Bisi prosecuting someone who they had taught to breed seeds and why it was illegal for him to plant the seeds he had produced on his own land.

Cooperation or coercion?