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Japanese and Cambodian farmers say "No!" to GM rice (2/4/2007)

1.JAPANESE FARMERS FIGHT TO PROTECT THEIR LOCAL VARIETIES OF RICE FROM GE RICE
2.Cambodian farmers Say No to GE Rice

TAKE ACTION: SIGN THE MILLION-SIGNATURE PETITION AGAINST GM RICE Go to the "Week of Rice Action" - WORA - webpage and sign on to show your support via http://www.panap.net

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1.JAPANESE FARMERS FIGHT TO PROTECT THEIR LOCAL VARIETIES OF RICE FROM GE RICE
By Sarojeni Rengam

Niigata Organic farmer, Tsuru Maki and his group has launched a protracted campaign and a legal suit to protect the rice variety Koshi-Hikari from contamination from GE rice. Speaking at the Forum on WORA in Tokyo, Japan on 29th March 2007, Mr Tsuru Maki said, "We had to stop the open field experiments of GE rice in Niigata before it contaminates our local rice varieties and destroys our livelihood." He continued, "Two years ago we undertook a legal suit to stop The National Hokuriku Research Center from undertaking open field testing of GE rice."

The legal suit empowered the farmers and they were able to get the support of many groups and academicians, scientists, farmers all over the country and even musicians who joined their campaign. Tsuru emphasised, "We did not realise that much of the information that was being put out by the Hokuriku Research Center was really biased. It was a shock to us that a government research centre would get this so wrong".

They had one victory when the local Judge presiding over their case ordered that the open field experiments be stopped. The Hokuriku Research Center now continues the experiments but it has ensured that the experiments are undertaken in a closed system. But another case is still pending in the courts on the question of the impact of these GE rice experiments on soil bacteria that surfaced as a result of the first legal case.

The campaign has also spearheaded the support from many Local Governments (the Town Assemblies) to vote against the open field testing of GE crops. According to Mr Tsuru the campaign has also raised many pertinent issues and farmers, consumers and scientists are questioning the meaning of these experiments. He also added that the public disclosure of information was another major issue and has raised concerns about the credibility of the information on GE rice from a government research center.

Koshi-Hikari is a local variety that Niigata is famous for and an important variety for organic farmers since it does well with little use of fertilisers. "The taste of this variety is special, it is wonderful", said Prof Koa Tasaka of PAN Japan when asked the reasons for the popularity of this variety.

Finally Mr Tsuru ended with a strong message of unity to farmers, he said, "Farmers must stand up together and be independent! We have to look for the information and make our own conclusions and take action. We cannot just depend on the information from the government."

The network of organic farmers, consumer cooperatives and a Niigata environmental group together formed the "Niigata No Kome to Shizen wo Moamoru Renraku-Kai" or the "Protect Niigata's Rice and Natural Environment Network" and together with Consumers Union of Japan launched a campaign to stop GE field testing. In the process they were able to involve many farmers all over the country, academicians, scientists and musicians in their campaign.

Also speaking at the Forum was Sarojeni V. Rengam who called on the participants to sign on to the statement of WORA and to join the thousands who are saying NO to GE! She also emphasised the campaign against International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) which is now having partnerships with transnational corporations, such as Syngenta to develop GE rice for Asia. She stressed that, "These partnerships are motivated by profits and not for humanitarian purposes". Rengam also said "IRRI has still to acknowledge the failures of the Green Revolution technologies which it promoted from the 1960s and compensate and provide health care to its poisoned workers particularly the workers who applied hazardous pesticides in its field sites. It has abandoned any responsibility to these workers who are suffering the impacts of pesticides until today".

Mr. Amagasa of the NO! GMO Campaign in Japan shared information on the Japanese situation focusing on GE rice experiments while Ms Ryuku also from the Campaign outlined the WORA in Japan.

The Week of Rice Action (WORA) 2007 brings together farmers, rural communities, and other sectors of society to celebrate and protect rice culture. To be officially launched on March 13 in Bangladesh, the main WORA events will take place in 13 countries across Asia from March 29 to April 4. Culminating in India and the Philippines, WORA will be an unprecedented mobilization of Asians "Celebrating and Protecting Rice Culture"! A key feature of WORA will be its one-million signature campaign calling on policy-makers to take immediate steps to save the rice of Asia.

WORA is organised by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) and its partner organisations in thirteen countries in the region. Anyone interested in being a part of WORA 2007 can log on to the WORA page at www.panap.net

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2.Cambodian farmers Say No to GE Rice
By Gilbert M. Sape

Phnom Penh, 30 March 2007 - More than a hundred Cambodian farmer leaders have added their voices to the growing opposition against genetically engineered (GE) rice in Asia.

In a workshop in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, farmers from 11 provinces were joined by supporting NGOs, government officials from the Department of Agriculture and students from agricultural colleges in celebrating the Week of Action Rice (WORA) that is taking place in 13 countries in Asia.

Organised by the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) together with 25 more NGOs, the two-day workshop kicked off on March 30 with discussions on the threats of GE rice to the Cambodian paddy farmers and ways to strengthen their ecological agriculture practices.

Keam Makarady of CEDAC said WORA provided the farmers an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to protect their traditional rice seeds. He added that the involvement of the government officials from the department of agriculture in the WORA in Cambodia could help in strengthening the existing agricultural laws on GE and pesticides.

While by law, GE crops and seeds are supposedly not allowed to be grown in Cambodia, the reality says otherwise. CEDAC reported that despite the ban, GE cotton and corn are commercially grown in Kampongcham province. Farmers in the area suspect that these GE crops came from neighbouring China and the harvests, at least for cotton, are brought back to China to feed the hungry textile companies in the mainland.

As with most countries in Asia, rice means life for Cambodian farmers. Rice is part of their culture and identity. According to CEDAC, 2004 data shows 75% of Cambodian farmers depend on rice farming for their survival; there are 1.8 million families involved in rice production and 90% of the rice crop in the country is planted with farmer-saved seeds.

The alarming news on the farmers’ suicide in Andhra Pradesh in India has reached the Cambodian farmers. Indian farmers who planted Monsanto's GE cotton went bankrupt after a series of poor yield and being caught in the cycle of indebtedness to finance the great promises of bollgard (Bt cotton).

"We don't want GE rice as it will affect our livelihood just like what happened to the cotton farmers in India," said rice farmer Ngin Sokha from Takeo province. Ngin has been growing rice in her small farm using the ecological agriculture system. She has been championing seed-saving in her community.

Seed saving has been practiced by Cambodian farmers for centuries. As custodians of these precious seeds, they have improved their traditional rice varieties through cross-breeding.

With the possible commercialisation of GE rice in Asia, Cambodian farmers are afraid that once GE rice finds its way into the country, seed-saving would be gone and they would have to buy seeds every planting season and eventually depend on agrochemical TNCs which own the patents to GE rice.

In the two-day workshop on WORA, farmers have showed and shared their skills with other farmers on how to be the best custodians of seeds using ecological agriculture practices. From paddy field preparation to seed selection, from maintenance to harvesting, these farmers shared their first-hand knowledge with other farmers, government officials from the department of agriculture and students from agricultural colleges.

"Farmers should organise themselves to protect local varieties against GE," adds Ngin. "Farmers have to reject GE rice!" she concluded.

The Cambodia WORA is part of the regional WORA that is being organised by the Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) with the aim of celebrating and protecting rice culture in Asia.

The Week of Rice Action (WORA) 2007 brings together farmers, rural communities, and other sectors of society to celebrate and protect rice culture. To be officially launched on March 13 in Bangladesh, the main WORA events will take place in 13 countries across Asia from March 29 to April 4. Culminating in India and the Philippines, WORA will be an unprecedented mobilization of Asians "Celebrating and Protecting Rice Culture"! A key feature of WORA will be its one-million signature campaign calling on policy-makers to take immediate steps to save the rice of Asia.

WORA is organised by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) and its partner organisations in thirteen countries in the region. Anyone interested in being a part of WORA 2007 can log on to the WORA page at www.panap.net

Contact at PAN AP:
Ms Anne Haslam, PAN AP at
[email protected]
PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (PAN AP), P.O. Box 1170, 10850 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: 604-6570271 or 604-6560381 Fax: 604-6583960
E-mail:
[email protected]
Home Page:
www.panap.net

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is a global network working to eliminate the human and environmental harm caused by pesticides and to promote biodiversity based ecological agriculture. PAN Asia and the Pacific is committed to the empowerment of people especially women, agricultural workers, peasant and indigenous farmers. We are dedicated to protect the safety and health of people, and the environment from pesticide use and genetic engineering. We believe in a people-centered, pro-women development through food sovereignty, ecological agriculture and sustainable lifestyles.

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