by Pernell Plath

       Here in the West we worry about corporate control of the agricultural sector, and though the problems are incredibly serious and very much real, the effect is often less poignant than in so-called "Third World" countries. I spent this past summer with farmers in southern India, trying to better understand corporate influence on their traditional seed saving and distribution networks. I found such multinational giants as Cargill and Monsanto, as well as national corporations, barreling full-force into Indian agriculture with dramatic consequences.
       Traditionally, Indian farmers have collected seed for their own use as well as to trade with others. This system is under threat as seed becomes viewed merely as a commodity to be bought and sold.
Pervasive rural poverty sets the stage for exploitation by companies eager to establish a presence in the seed sector.  In the northern districts of the state of Karnataka, corporations have moved with lightening force to recruit farmers into their seed cultivation regime. Surprisingly, the companies have even been able to cooperate with each other in sending a single representative to a given area.  The company official will then canvass the region, extolling the merits of seed production, with the biggest attraction being a scarce commodity to peasant farmers - cash. For the start-up expense of digging a bore well if none exists, a family can turn a section of their land to seed growing and seemingly turn a tidy profit.
       Though on the surface this arrangement could appear to be mutually advantageous, as the full-story emerges, the agreement loses its luster. Details of the deals vary, but invariably the company representatives who originally recruited the farmers continues to visit them to offer "advice." Some farmers are obligated to follow the advice, others merely cajoled. In either case, the company rep has become the de-facto extension agent.
      In my research, with one exception, the farmers had all been producing organically, or at least without the use of synthetic pesticides, prior to their entry into the corporate world. Immediate changes in production include heavy use of inorganic fertilizers and introduction of insecticides, generally purchased by the farmers on credit from the very companies for which the farmers are growing.
Tropical and semi-tropical soils react very strongly to synthetics. Within a short time, even as little as a decade, soil tilth diminishes dramatically in quality.  Insect pests intensify under the barrage of poisons.
Though some income is now earned from agriculture, for the vast majority of Indian farmers, the land is primarily feeding their families. As the agroecosystem sickens, so too the family's livelihood grows increasingly jeopardized.
      For the farmers I interviewed, profits are generally good in the beginning, and the damage is not so great that it cannot be disregarded. However, as time goes by, productivity continually decreases and cash inflows slow. At the same time agrochemical expenditures stay the same or sometimes increase in a vain attempt to recreate the yields of the past. Eventually, the earnings and harvest decrease to the point of futility, and either the company or the farmer rescinds the relationship.
       At this point, the family is left with less fertile land, sometimes far worse. Their economic base is damaged. The long-term wealth of that family has decreased. As one farmer who had grown seeds for 15 years explained, the former seed land has lower yields, the food that is grown on the land is less flavorful and does not store as long. In the meantime, the company has recruited another farmer with fresh lands to begin the process anew. They have merely moved on without diminishing their bottom line. 
      Corporate recruiting of seed farmers in India is pushing the country closer to the precipice of food insecurity, to say nothing of the damage to the traditional farmer to farmer seed exchange mechanisms, the loss of genetic diversity, and the myriad of other concerns.  As already scarce lands lose productivity and already scarce economic resources are devoted to agrochemicals, the ability of India to feed herself decreases. 
      Unfortunately, though damage to lands from chemical use is now widely recognized by India's agricultural institutions, the information has not spread out to the public. The combination of past government policies promoting synthetics and current corporate misinformation have kept farmers in the dark about the threat of corporate collusion.