Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post Reply
Nastarana
Posts: 163
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:55 pm

Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post by Nastarana »

https://seedfreedom.in/biopiracy-of-tur ... le-carrot/

Please note:

Seminis, a subsidiary of Monsanto (world's most hated corporation and with good reason) added nothing new to the carrot which their representative bought in an isolated, remote, out of the way place in Turkey of about 1.5 million inhabitants. Their breeders merely selected for desired traits, such as color. I am informed that the "legal definition" of 'plant breeding' includes selection, apparently without admixture of outside genes. Please recall to mind that American laws are often written by corporate lobbyists and nowhere is this practice more prevalent than in the agriculture sector. For an American Senator or Congressperson, service on an agriculture committee is not a sexy or high profile assignment, but it can be lucrative for a representative willing to rubberstamp legislation favorable to agribusiness interests.

There are many potentially lucrative commercial uses for the (stolen) purple carrot, such as in health drinks and food coloring. American public opinion is turning against artificial food colorings.

Not Turkey the sovereign nation, nor its' citizens, nor its' farmers stand to receive the slightest benefit from Seminis' commercial exploitation of one of its' landrace vegetable varieties.

In the past, corporate theft of natural resources was always backed up by the threat of military force, but the American public has recently shown its disinclination to endure any further wars in support of the pretensions of our megalomaniac upper classes.

Patents not unlike the one Seminis was awarded for the carrot it did not breed itself have been successfully challenged in American courts. One case involved selection of yellow color in a heritage bean from Mexico. In another case, public outcry and petitions to the Patent Office convinced the officials of that agency to not grant a patent on warty skin in squash. Such warty skin is a feature of many heritage varieties of squash, not to mention other curcurbitae, which are hundreds of years old, as I, along with many other people, pointed out in the letters we sent to the Patent Office. I wish we had known about the carrot patent before it was granted.

Black, or purple, carrots are grown in many countries and I know for a fact that seed is sold commercially in some European countries. Seminis might simply have purchased packets of purple carrot seeds from different vendors and then cross pollinated those to produce a new variety. Some purple hybrids have already been introduced into the North American seed market. I believe 'Purple Dragon' is the name of one F1 hybrid variety.

Should the Turkish govt. wish to file suit to either vacate the patent or claim royalties, Turkey may surely count on the support of the entire seed saving/food sovereignty movement in the USA and around the world as well. OK, I know, that would be those scruffy dippy hippy organic gardener types your relatives in Europe and the USA can't stand, but, hey, allies are where you find them. It was an international coalition of scientists and the aforementioned scruffy dippy hippies who convinced Vladimir Putin to halt bulldozing of the world famous (among botanists) Vavrilov Institute's grounds, home to the irreplaceable collection assembled by the Russian scientist Vavrilov. Can the president of your country convince Mr. Putin to do anything he does not want to do? No, I didn't think so. Neither can Barak Obama.

I hope any Turkish citizen who might be reading this will consider asking his or her govt. to protest this theft of a historic Turkish resource.
User avatar
Miss_Faucie_Fishtits
Posts: 2153
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:58 pm

Re: Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post by Miss_Faucie_Fishtits »

Not so trivial. Novelty plant varieties drive seed catalogue and nursery sales, as every backyard gardener wishes to be the first to plant the first white pumpkin or the first harlequin tomato. Not sure what sort of growing season will present itself to the upper half of North America, but the purloined intellectual property in question might be worth contesting...'>......
She irons her jeans, she's evil.........
User avatar
Nonc Hilaire
Posts: 6168
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:28 am

Re: Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

Miss_Faucie_Fishtits wrote:Not so trivial. Novelty plant varieties drive seed catalogue and nursery sales, as every backyard gardener wishes to be the first to plant the first white pumpkin or the first harlequin tomato. Not sure what sort of growing season will present itself to the upper half of North America, but the purloined intellectual property in question might be worth contesting...'>......
Hybridizing garden seeds isn't the issue.

Glyphosphate makes plants unable to absorb nutrients. Roundup-ready grains are nutrient poor (but plump) foods. It is starvation by deception.

I do want some of those harlequin tomato seeds, though.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”

Teresa of Ávila
Nastarana
Posts: 163
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:55 pm

Re: Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post by Nastarana »

This has nothing to do with glyphosate, a chemical which ought to be banned altogether, IMO. Monsanto is now getting into conventional breeding, but still hopes to control world foods with its proprietary varieties.

There are many old and new open pollinated varieties of striped tomatoes being sold. I like an English variety called Tigerella. Brad Gates, who owns and operates Wild Boar Farms, has introduced quite a few new OP striped maters with imaginative names like 'Berekley Tie Dye'.

I hope the Turkish govt. will challenge this in court.
Nastarana
Posts: 163
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:55 pm

Re: Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post by Nastarana »

Here is a little more about the black carrot, discussing its distribution and uses.

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/blackcarrot.html

I suspect that this variety is intended to be offered to commercial producers for use in things like health beverages and vegetable dyes.

Does Turkey not have a seed bank? Inclusion of a variety in a seed bank does constitute evidence, I believe, that a variety is not new. Seed banks get destroyed when the USA or its merceneries, oh excuuuse me. allies, invade another country. The seed banks of Iraq, Syria and Libya have been destroyed. Strictly unfortunate collateral damage, and not at all suggested or instigated in any way by any American or multinational ag company, perish the thought.
noddy
Posts: 11322
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:09 pm

Re: Biopiracy of Turkish resource

Post by noddy »

the dark purple carrots are tasty, they have become quite popular at the local markets so ive been eating them quite a bit.

this whole world of monsanto and privatised gene pools is quite ugly to me, i absolutely dont believe they have the right to clam ownership because they dont have the ability to stop their product from cross fertilizing (polluting!?!) the wider environment.

much hoo ha in my area due to people wanting to keep their own grain strains going but having commerical gm growing next door.
ultracrepidarian
Post Reply