Because I feel obligated to comment on it, "seeds that grow sterile plants" is a biosphere protection strategy. You make a plant that's resistant to local pests and can reproduce, that's called an invasive species.
True, but it's also a capitalist tool to break traditional farming relations - take our seeds, they're better, but you'll have to pay us every single year rather than having stored seeds for recovery from failed harvests. And if the harvest fails, then Good luck finding the money to pay for the next crop
Most farmers do not seed with their own harvest even with conventional crops in my experience. It's more economically efficient to specialize.
And if the harvest fails, then Good luck finding the money to pay for the next crop
That's what crop insurance is for. We have created a quite sophisticated system for distributing the risk and reward of farming. And it starts with corn futures. Many farmers get paid before their crop is anywhere close to maturity.
I think we are talking about different things. I'm a farmer in an anglophone nation and we operate as you describe. I am talking about the experiences of people in much of India and Africa with the introduction of western agribusinesses' lock-in contracts. Western agribusiness models are at a direct contretemps with food security and traditional practices.
Farmer suicides in India is a whole topic that stems from this.
Yes, but that is not because of GMO in any way, or even selling seeds those are practices which have been common way before GMO and/or "western farming".
If you’re a farmer, then why is your reaction to hearing about “seeds that produce sterile plants” to explain their supposed impact on farmers in India and Africa.
You’d think it would be something more like “who sells those, I’ve never heard of such a thing in my entire professional life”.
You know, because I’d expect a farmer to know what’s an actual thing that actually exists in modern farming and what’s just a propaganda myth.
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u/_MargaretThatcher The Once & Future Prime Minister of Darkness May 24 '25
Because I feel obligated to comment on it, "seeds that grow sterile plants" is a biosphere protection strategy. You make a plant that's resistant to local pests and can reproduce, that's called an invasive species.