Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear

In its May issue, Vanity Fair magazine investigated the methods and tactics being used by Monsanto, the world’s largest and most powerful seed company, against farmers, several of whom were sued for “seed piracy.”

Farmers who buy Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year. Those increased sales, coupled with ballooning sales of its Roundup weed killer, have been a bonanza for Monsanto.

This radical departure from age-old practice has created turmoil in farm country.

In trying to protect its seeds, Monsanto, the magazine reports, has resorted to intimidation, threats, and long-drawn-out legal battles.

What Monsanto does elsewhere it can replicate in the Philippines, where the laws favor corporate behemoths at the expense of peasants and farmers.

Read the full Vanity Fair story here.