Major agribusiness player DuPont has been subject to scrutiny in the United States after it emerged the company is employing ex-police officers to enforce its seed patents.

image expired

The Delaware-based company is the world's second largest seed supplier. DuPont shares patents on genetically modified seeds with world number one Monsanto. Agribusinesses have come under fire in the past for jealous protection of their 'intellectual property'. Monsanto has sued 145 farmers in the United States since 1997 over patent infringement on herbicide-resistant soybeans.

The ex-police are employed by a company contracted by DuPont to investigate instances of seed saving in Canada and it emerged this week that there are plans to expand into the United States. Seed saving was once a common practice, but is now deemed an infraction of patenting law. The companies argue that enforcing intellectual property laws provides benefits for consumers, as the premium gets reinvested in research and development of new lines.

However, environmental groups and small farmers' disagree. They argue that a significant amount of money goes into protecting intellectual property, including employing investigators and even monitoring fields using satellite imaging. 

Furthermore, the extensive planting of GM crops tolerant to herbicide or designed to kill pests in the US is thought to have led to growing resistance amongst pests and certain weeds; agribusinesses claim this has been exacerbated by farmers failing to rotate crops or plant areas of non-GM crops to act against resistance. While the 'superweeds' and resistant rootworms are spreading, industry is struggling to keep up with the new pressures.  

Research and Policy organisation GeneWatch UK warned on Tuesday that the GM industry is funding a major push to return the controversial crops to Britain, by promoting claims in parliament that they are needed to "feed the world". A number of MPs and industry groups, including the NFU, have advocated the use of GM crops in the UK, though smaller farms and public resistance have both been put forward as barriers to their introduction, even by advocates of the technology.

Dr Helen Wallace, Director of GeneWatch said, "Lobbyists from the GM industry [promote] GM crops to government as a way to 'feed the world,' but the sad truth is they only want to expand the market for their products and lock farmers into a treadmill where they continually pay more for patented GM seeds and expensive chemicals."

Tweet