Who is damaging Indian agriculture?
It is not ‘irresponsible corporations’ that are damaging Indian agriculture, as claimed by Shiva. Such corporations can only survive if they meet, and continue to meet, the needs of Indian farmers for greater productivity. Farmers must decide this, not Shiva. But Third World agriculture is certainly being damaged by the highly irresponsible agricultural subsidies in developed countries, now approaching $1 billion a day. The result is a glut of staple cereals, export dumping in developing countries, and the destruction of poor farmers, who cannot compete with the subsidies in rich countries. As small farms are abandoned, the loss of biodiversity in the form of local crop genetic resources is enormous. Northern export interests are now enhanced by interference in the agricultural policy of the South. European and North American multi-billion dollar crop export interests would obviously benefit from reduced production and increased imports in developing countries. Expanding wheat and cott
