WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

11.3 Genetically-Engineered Seeds – A Threat to Our Water
There are convincing arguments against the use of geneticallyengineered
seeds and water conservation is one of them, because
these crops represent an unpredictable danger to our water supplies.
In connection with the most widely cultivated “patented” crops,
developed by the multinational seed companies – the so-called
Roundup Ready Plants – the world’s most frequently sold herbicide,
Roundup Ultra, is being used to control weeds. Produced by the U.S.
chemical giant Monsanto, Roundup Ultra consists of glyphosate,
polyoxyethylamine (POEA) as well as Cosmo Flux 4115, a sticky soaplike
substance. This herbicide destroys all cultivated plants and crops –
with the exception of those which have been genetically modified and
are therefore resistant. The aim is to eradicate all “unwanted plants”
so that farmers will be forced to sow Roundup Ready seed.
For some years now in Colombia, to give just one example,
planes have been spraying the land with Roundup Ultra as part of
the “Colombia Plan”, supposedly to wipe out the coca plant, which
has been cultivated there for thousands of years. The knock-on
effect of this is that the environment and water resources are being
contaminated, both human and animal life is being endangered and
other valuable crops are being destroyed in the process. One further
side effect is an increase in the number of cancer cases and deformities
reportedly linked to the use of Roundup. In this respect, parallels can
be drawn between the weedkiller and the environmental toxin dioxin,
which became notorious during the Vietnam War (in connection with
Agent Orange) and after the Seveso disaster in 1976. In January 2007,
Monsanto announced in a press report: “Innovative agriculture is
catching on.”
Any number of names could be added to the list of ecologicallyharmful
and toxic substances. What they all have in common is that
they are contaminating our drinking water in a way that is totally
unacceptable.
In short: we can assume that the majority of herbicides are not
only having the desired effect – i.e. to destroy weeds – but they
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