Whenever the government of India announces any new initiatives for promoting natural farming, the people of India committed to ecologically protective farming are very happy that at last the government is coming to the right path.

However when they learn that the government or its farm research establishment is also entering into collaborations with those multinational companies which are known to be closely associated with the promotion of most hazardous technologies (such as GM crops and highly hazardous agrochemicals that go with them), which have already paid billions of dollars in other countries for the health harm caused by them, which have  indulged in shockingly unethical practices and have even been involved in war crimes (the most shocking experiments in concentration camps) and chemical weapons in the past, then people are shocked and start thinking—if we are on the path of ecologically protective farming, then why are we inviting such multinational companies to destroy our environment?

Any country or government must be clear about its policies and priorities. It cannot have the contradictory attitude of saying that it is walking on the ecologically protective and destructive paths at the same time.

Several organizations and scientists are doing wonderful work on agro-ecology and natural farming in several countries. If the government feels that there is something very valuable to be learnt from the experiences and knowledge of some of them (even though in the context of natural farming most effective solutions are best found at the local level keeping in view local conditions), then the government can certainly invite them or even have a collaboration with them. But surely there can be absolutely no justification for having collaboration with those multinational companies that have become widely known for the spread of hazardous technologies including GM crops, who have been involved in legal cases amounting to billions in the context of these hazards, and some of whom have been involved in the course of their history even with the most horrible war crimes under the Nazi regime led by Hitler.

What are such companies doing in India?

Are we going to open up our agriculture research establishment to them?

Are we going to follow their lead?

Are we going to ask our scientists to work in collaboration with them? If yes, why? What is the logic or the rationale of this? 

Of course it is well-known that some of the worst polluter companies are trying to hide their massive ecological harm by adopting green-washing techniques and even trying to present themselves as climate saviors and environment protectors. No one should be fooled by such tactics of those who have already paid billions for cases relating to high health hazards or else are still entangled in many such cases. Why are they paying huge compensation for hazards mainly only in rich countries? Why are they not paying such compensation for the harm done by the same products in poorer countries?

The government should carefully reconsider all such harmful and dangerous collaboration agreements.      

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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Scientific India Magazine

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