Iraqi Seed-Saving Under Attack

Iraqi seed-saving under attack.

New American rules are being seen as a major attack on the traditional practice of seed-saving and seed-sharing by Iraqi farmers.

Iraq was the birthplace of wheat farming, but agriculture has crashed there in the last decade.

Order 81, put in place by US official Paul Bremer, refers to seed-saving and patents. It is legally binding unless repealed by a future Iraqi Government.

If seeds can be proven to be “new, distinct, uniform and stable”, then they are protected.

Seed companies can charge royalties for the seeds, and perhaps most importantly, Iraqi farmers are forbidden to save them.

Order 81
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040426_CPAORD_81_
Patents_Law.pdf

GM Watch: “Order 81: Crime against humanity”
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4998

The Ecologist: “Order 81”
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2005/Order-81-Iraq1feb05.htm

: The incoming address of this article is :
   www.giantexperiment.co.nz/news/item.aspx?ID=56798d86-41a0-4e21-b1de-5dd4279ba205

""If seeds can be proven to be “new, distinct, uniform and stable”, then they are protected.""
If the farmer is saving varieties that have been passed down for generations the rules don't apply. The rules are mainly used to to protect from patent infringement which if left unregulated would discourage development of new varieties.
Why would a plant breeder want to work sometimes for years developing a superior variety if there was no financial compensation?

they've even sued farmers whose crops were contaminated with their frankenseeds . . . and won! . . . this kind of control of food production is indeed a crime against humanity . . . and I don't care if any new "superior" varieties of anything are ever developed . . . the plants that have feed humanity since the beginning of time are fine with me . . . and no doubt a lot healthier for all of us . . .

the plants that have feed humanity since the beginning of time are beginning to to become far from superior due to global climate change.
I work in Ag research for USDA-ARS quite often with plant breeders. Most people don't realize that the vast majority of new varieties developed by the USDA and university Ag research aren't patented.

They don't handle drought well, and yields are below those of strains not engineered to withstand glyphosate. There was a post on this just yesterday or Thursday, though I can't remember which forum . . .

is a crime. Seeds are the source of life. Most plant varieties have disappeared due TO the workings of agribusiness and other globalizing forces that destroy diversity of which GM seeds is just an extension. Shuffling around a few plasmids is hardly a "creation". Seeds which are non-viable for the next year are life denying.

Exploding the Gene Myth.
The GMO experiment is a fraud and a wrecking ball. Only massive amounts of PR-$50 million a year- has convinced some of its value.

Open pollinated heirloom seeds are far superior to any concoction from Agri-business-science. In all ways.

It's the worn out soil that is the problem in most area, alomg with development and other industrial/capital factors which have pushed people onto marginal lands.

GMO's are the wrong answers to the wrong questions.

people can do for themselves and the planet -- and/or supporting other folks and organizations who do.

I am really proud of my heirloom and open pollinated tomato seedlings this year (and a few other veggies as well). I can't wait to see how well they produce, how we like them and then save some of those seeds for next year and beyond. These seeds are from 1999, and I was SO impressed with their germination rates being that old and not having been kept in optimum conditions.

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