[Pil-pc-oceania] Without Monsanto - Making a net pofit growing rice.

[Keith Stewart]

In our 30 local villages in rural Bangladesh, for many centuries we have grown our
own local varieties of our rice.

MONSANTO in the USA wants to stop us growing the rice we can grow locally, and enjoy growing then eating 'Their' tasteless, USA rice.

'Their' rice from the USA requires far more water, buying MONSANTO herbicides on our fields to kill weeds, buying MONSANTO pesticides to kill bugs.

MONSANTO? We are not allowed to save our local FREE seed for next year. But will be required to buy MONSANTO seed.

SELLING MONSANTO RICE ?  We can only sell for some Tk17 per kilo. 

MONSANTO rice has no taste, does it?

Our old varieties have taste.

Don't need imported chemicals, bouhgt from MONSANTO.

Any extra, we can sell for some Tk45 to Tk55 per kilo.

Without having had to buy their USA-MONSANTO chemicals.

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REAL WORLD - GROWING RICE IN BANGLADESH?

I created a spreadsheet to determine the net profit from growing our traditional rice. vs. growing MONSANTO's rice.

Sat on the verandah of a 'Man of Influence' who owned many local rice fields. Also hre is responsible for some 13 villages, all of their families grow rice in his fields.

Without a spreadsheet or a computer, he told me why, "It is not worth our growing MONSANTO or the rice from the Geen Revolution, IRRI is it?

Keith Stewart
ENDS
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