Fiesta de la Semilla criolla

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An encouraging little Asterix story: I spent the weekend in a little town (or pueblo?) called Treinta y Tres (well, I can explain the name, but as that is a long story, I will add it at another time!) at the Fiesta de la Semilla criolla (Local/Regional seed festival). It is an Asterix story because here, as anywhere else in the world, transnational seed companies are doing all they can to monopolize the seed markets, trying to homogenize, patent, and ultimately eliminate local diversity of seeds. But, just like Asterix, Obelix and their Gaul village resisted roman occupation, the little enclave of Treinta y Tres is trying to resist the take-over by profit-seeking transnational companies, by establishing a local seed bank. The seed bank collects and stores the local seed diversity, protecting biodiversity.

Some of you may know that seed banks exist in Europe as well - a desperate attempt to make sure that elimination of biodiversity for the sake of corporate profit does not lead to definite extinction of millions of plant varieties? - but the difference here is: the seeds are exchanged and grown locally, by campesinos, who the sell their produce on local markets. This ensures that biodiversity exists not only in the bank but on the fields as well, keeping soil, ecosystem and ultimately consumers healthy.

Alright, I am painting a very positive picture here - of course there are some serious challenges: the local government is in support of the intitiative and organized the seed festival - but local media are all right-wing, meaning they paint every single intitiative of the local governemnt in very negative colours. Positive aspects go unmentioned. And here as well, like anywhere, the sale of agrotoxics is increasing - even though organic agroculture is promoted.

But in the light of developments in Europe and many other countries in the world, this ist still a very encouraging little story. A story which, sadly enough, cannot happen in Europe, as sale or even exchange of local, alternative, home-grown seed varieties has been illegalized. European law on seed marketing has evolved over the years to ensure that only uniform seeds for industrial farming can be sold on the market, condemning farmers' seeds and traditional varieties to the black market if not complete illegality. Only registered seeds from a uniform seed catalogue are allowed on the EU market - but it is impossible for farmers to fulfill the criteria required for registration on the national seed catalogue without using breeding techniques, fertiliser, pesticides, mechanisation and irrigation to ensure conditions are stable and to evermore increase yield. From the first hybrids to modern biotechnology, the plant breeder has left the field for the laboratory. In this way, the plant breeder is imposing on farmers standardised crops which have been perfected in the laboratory and at research stations. Today's commercial varieties are selected for and by these techniques for industrial agriculture, without which farmers cannot produce crops from these seeds.

For all of you with your own garden, growing biodiversity: don't exchange seeds with your neighbours, you criminals! Or move to Treinta y Tres, here it is still possible.

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Comments

[Hugo Hernandez]

FIESTA DE LA SEMILLA CRIOLLA
I want to congratulate you for this post. As an uruguayan living in a foreign country (and dreaming or returning to Uruguay) I was really surprised with your comment, since I didn't know about the attempts of eliminating biodiversity in Europe. Of course these are the news that the big media do not publish. The effort of those farmers in Treinta y Tres is remarkable and I am really happy to hear that a small group of people in a small city of a small country is doing something so good and encouraging. Maybe the fight for preserving biodiversity is not lost yet. Thanks. By the way. Treinta y Tres means Thirty Three and it refers to a group of 33 patriots that fought the the independence war.