Once upon a time in India there were 200,000 different varieties of rice, now there are barely 3,000 as the move to a monoculture and one breed of 'golden' rice gathers pace. Cotton and wheat are being evolved in the same way too.
Farmers have been encouraged to buy into an idea of 'magic seeds' founded within a genetically modified culture with the promise of high yielding crops. less pests and greater profits but at a cost 1,000 times higher than their usual outlay in more traditional seed. They have borrowed against all what they have owned to buy this new seed and when the crops have failed due to not being suitable to the environment or not stopping one particular breed of pest then the farmers have lost everything, their farms, their seed and indeed their lives.
Part of the problem is in the seed itself, commonly known as suicide seed the GM plant only lives for one season and doesn't then have the ability to reproduce its own seed for the ongoing benefit of both the plant and the farmer, it disintegrates. It is specifically designed in this way to maximize profits for the seed company. The farmer then has to buy new seed for the next season. However it is not only the seed that ends up committing suicide because of this scenario.
It is estimated that 250,000 Indian farmers have taken their own lives over the past 16 years which works out at roughly one every 30 minutes.
In traditional ways of farming with all the different varieties, the plants are less susceptible to one pest going through the whole crop. Once more it is possible to save the seed at the end of the harvest for replanting the following year.
In parts of the world it is now becoming illegal to save seed in this traditional way as more and more varieties of seed across all types of crops become patented and then filtered out of the food chain. Part of the reason why there are so many gluten intolerant people around now is because of the new the high yielding GM wheat which has extra gluten in it more so than the traditional heritage wheats of before which have little or none in them. Soon we may not be able to plant our own seed in our own back yard for the sake of patented GM crops.
When I visited Tamera in 2011, a community of the future, I learned about seed saving and companion planting. How it is possible to plant different species of plants together in one bed or crop so pest and disease can be combated more naturally. Solutions are found because one type of plant naturally serves another. It is as if the different families of plant have different personalities and are stronger because of this.
It is the same in business if we have a monoculture of employing a certain type of person or a particular skill set it won't ultimately serve our company that well long term, however well we get on initially. in order for our company to thrive we need different personalities and attributes all helping each other out, making our company more resilient to what we will have to experience in the future.
There is a great deal more I could talk to you about with regards to the world's food supply and how the rise of food and fuel prices due to failing crops and having to transport them half way across the world are the real reason behind the political unrest and uprisings we have seen in a great many countries over the past 12 months but that might be for another time, or to be continued further on the
blog.
If wishing to avoid a monoculture in your own business and wanting to know how to get the most out of all your personality types within your workforce why not
contact me now to see how I can best help you.
For more on the GM genocide in India why not
click here.
Otherwise until next time.
Much love Sx.
