Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

288 SESSION IV
During the introduction of the Bt cotton, the company
promised that the cotton would yield about 3-4 tons
per hectare. However, the data of the government
Monitoring and Controlling Bt Cotton team showed
that in 2001 only 4.01 per cent of Bt cotton farmers
could harvest more than three tons of cotton one
hectare, while 37.09 per cent of the total farmers grown
Bt cotton variety could harvest lower than one ton per
hectare. Moreover, the cotton fields were also destroyed
by insects.
The result was 76 per cent of contracted farmers could
not pay back to the company for the credit scheme
of the year 2001. 9 The Branita Sandhina in late 2002
stopped supplying Bt seeds to its growers. The then
Agricultural Minister Bungaran Saragih explained the
reason the company suspended supplies because it had
“suffered losses”. 10
Besides, the Bt cotton was not high yielding and resistant
to ballworm as was promised, the cotton also introduced
new species of pests to Indonesia. According to Untung
Surapati, entomologist from University of Hasanuddin,
new species of cotton pests such as Amorphoidea was
first found in the province not so long after Bt cotton
are planted. It was the first time the insect appeared in
Indonesia, he said.
CORRUPTION BEHIND THE SCENE
The tough conditions small-scale farmers of Indonesia
have faced could be a very perfect factor for the company
to indirectly force farmers to accept its “unfair contract”
and welcome the Bt cotton. However, the permission of
the Agricultural Ministry on February 13, 2001 did not
provide a smooth way to GM business. The permission
was very limited. It only allowed the Bt cotton seeds
under trade name NuCOTN 35B (Ballgard) to be
commercialized for farmers in seven districts of South
Sulawesi province. The permission was only for the
year 2001. If other seeds company or even Monsanto
wanted to sell another GM crops seeds, they had to ask
for a permission. And if Monsanto wanted to continue
its business in the next year, a new application had to
be submitted for a consideration by the Ministry of
Agriculture.
“It is not good in terms of business. It made Indonesia
to be a country that is not attractive in investing GM
business since we don’t know whether or not the
government will allow us to run the business in the next
year”, said Edwin Saragih of Monsanto Indonesia.
He admitted that in 2002, the company asked the
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
government for the commercialization of Bt cotton for
multiple years, but the proposal was turned down by
the government.
On the same year the Monagro Kimia was reported
as authorized, an “improper” US$50,000 payment to
government officials took place. The alleged payment
was investigated by the US Department of Justice and
the Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission. 11
January 7, 2005 the scandal hit the world news headlines
and Indonesian media that the seed and chemical
transnational corporation agreed to pay US$1.5 million
fine as a “responsibility” for the bribe conducted by
its people. The US$ one million would be paid as a
monetary penalty to the US Department of Justice
and the other US$500,000 to the US Securities and
Exchanges Commission to settle the bribe charge and
other related violations. US Assistant Attorney-General
Christopher Wray concluded that the bribe was made
by a Monsanto employee with an aim to facilitate the
cultivation of genetically modified crops in Indonesia.
The bribe was recorded in the company’s book as
“consultant fees”. 12
Even providing an “improper” payment to the
government, the company still failed to make a fortune
with its GM business. In late 2002, Monsanto decided
to stop supplying its BT cotton seeds before closing the
Branita Sandhini, its subsidiary set up for running Bt
cotton, in the year later.
The Philippines: A demonstration of market control as
a consequence of a classical conspiracy theory
While Indonesia is the first country in Southeast Asia
to plant GM crops for commercial purposes, the
Philippines is coming up as the first country in the
region for planting edible GM crops.
The Philippines Department of Agriculture on December
4, 2002, approved corn varieties inserted with MON810
transformation event (gene) to be commercialized for
direct use for food, feed and propagation. MON810 is
a sort of Bt gene. Unlike Indonesia, the permission for
the Philippines government on GM crop is gene-based
meaning that all corn varieties contain gene MON810
could be commercialized under one permission. As a
result there are seeds of five corn varieties with MON810
gene are available in the market. The five varieties are
30Y50, 30Y49, 30Y73, and 30Y84 which are products
of Pioneer Hybrid and DK818YG of Monsanto.
Bt corn was introduced to the market as an “alternative”