Counter point: A Scientist's perspective on Seeds, Agriculture and Life

My previous post: Dr. Vandana Shiva on Seeds, Agriculture and Life - Part I  saw varied reactions among my friends. One among them, Raji Swaminathan, who works as a Scientist at MS Swaminathan Research Foundation wrote a detailed letter to me after she expressed her reservations on the article in my face book page. 

I am sharing the email conversation we had to have an open debate to understand the different perspectives about genetic engineering.  Before this conversation happened, I confess, I was quite apprehensive about genetic engineering. This conversation enabled me to look at the other side of this debate without prejudice and look for ways( if there are any) genetic engineering can solve some of the problems we are facing. 

Dr. Vandana Shiva on Seeds, Agriculture and Life - Part I

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to meet Dr. Vandana Shiva and her beautiful biodiversity farm Navdanya located near Dehradun. Navdanya is more than a farm. It is a network of seed keepers and organic producers spread across 16 states in India. Having heard her and seen her video footages in several documentaries around ecology, genetic engineering, nuclear holocaust and food justice, it was quite a surreal experience as I watched her sharing her experiences, in her ebullient self, on her valiant fight against industrialized agriculture, interspersed with scientific facts and nuggets of wisdom on ecology of  life.  She exudes an indefatigable passion which is reflected in her spirited determination to fight the monopoly of multi-national corporations trying to takeover our food system.

Here is an edited transcript of her address to our group:

What does it mean to patent a seed? It is a claim to creation that they have invented and created the seed and therefore no one else can make it, use it, save it or distribute it. By patenting seeds, they wanted to achieve total monopoly through collecting royalty and making it illegal for farmers to preserve seeds. But this was also an announcement that company like Monsanto is the creator of life.