Agriculture as war

A thought provoking article from Dr Vandana Shiva Industrial agriculture has become a war against ecosystems. It is based on the instruments of war and the logic of war, and it has warlike consequences. The chemicals on which industrial agriculture is based were originally designed for chemical warfare. That is why they turned Bhopal into a warzone. That is why they convert our farms into warzones.

Agriculture based on diversity, decentralization and improving small farm productivity through ecological methods is a women-centred, nature friendly agriculture. In this women-centered agriculture, knowledge is shared, other species and plants are kin, not `property', and sustainability is based on renewal and regeneration of biodiversity and species richness on farms to provide internal inputs. In our paradigms, there is no place for monocultures of genetically engineered crops and IPR monopolies on seeds. Monocultures and monopolies symbolize a masculinization of agriculture. The war mentality underlying military-industrial agriculture is evident from the names given to herbicides which destroy the economic basis of the survival o the poorest women in the rural areas of the Third World. Monsanto's herbicides are called `Round up', `Machete', `Lasso' American Home Products which has merged with Monsanto calls its herbicides `Pentagon', `Prowl', `Lightening', `Assert', `Avenge'. This is the language of war, not sustainability. Sustainability is based on peace with the earth.