Vandana Shiva on Seeds of Humanity

[DARC MIND]

& the problems with Genetically-Modified Seeds
Vandana Shiva on the Problem with Genetically-Modified Seeds
In a video excerpt from this weekend’s Moyers & Company, scientist and philosopher Vandana Shiva explains how “everything begins with seed,” and addresses the perils of patenting them. Shiva also encourages each of us to ask “where am I complicit in the war against the Earth?”

These seeds — considered “intellectual property” by the big companies who own the patents — are globally marketed to monopolize food production and profits. Opponents challenge the safety of genetically modified seeds, claiming they also harm the environment, are more costly, and leave local farmers deep in debt as well as dependent on suppliers. Shiva, who founded a movement in India to promote native seeds, links genetic tinkering to problems in our ecology, economy, and humanity, and sees this as the latest battleground in the war on Planet Earth

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Ms. Vandana Shiva is one remarkable woman indeed.

Thanks for your link to a great human being

गौतम बुद्ध के रास्ते पर

 

[Gascanastan]

After I work the Kali Mist x Burmese/Cherry Bomb line a bit the type will carry her name. Vandana Shiva seemed appropriate ....seriously 3rd eye...no shit.

One of the Earth's best defenses so far...Amazing woman.

 

[DARC MIND]

thanks for showing an interest fellas!
seriously miss yea guys in the OFC discussions

Bill Moyers is also the real deal,must give credit for all the great work he does in bringing great discussions & individuals into light..
i really enjoyed the questions bill shot at her and outstanding response on vandana's part...
really good discussion that should help many in educating the layman on this serious issue

 

[ClackamasCootz]

DARC MIND

I wanted to make sure I had my 'neem tree history' down before posting this but Ms. Shiva was instrumental leading the fight against W.R. Grace Corporation and their attempt to control the Neem tree industry in India.

"Things didn't work out as they hoped" - LMAO

Piracy by Patents

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge by Vandana Shiva

 

[jerry111165]

DARC MIND

I wanted to make sure I had my 'neem tree history' down before posting this but Ms. Shiva was instrumental leading the fight against W.R. Grace Corporation and their attempt to control the Neem tree industry in India.

"Things didn't work out as they hoped" - LMAO

Piracy by Patents

They tried to patent Neem? Or just a specific extract?

Also, did I just see something in there about water soluble neem?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

They tried to patent Neem? Or just a specific extract?

Also, did I just see something in there about water soluble neem?

Jerry

Properties of Neem Oil from the University of Waikato, New Zealand

This cite is from the section describing the various extraction methods used in India.

Water Extraction

The simplest technique (and the most widely employed today) is to crush or grind the kernels and extract them with water. They may, for example, be steeped overnight in a cloth bag suspended in a barrel of water. For reasons not yet understood, this process is less effective than pouring the water into the bag and collecting the extract as it emerges. The resulting crude suspension can be used in the field without further modification. It can also be filtered and employed as a sprayable emulsion.

This is the most promising approach for use in Third World villages. It has been estimated that by using water extraction, 20-30 kg of neem seed can normally treat 1 hectare. At this rate, the annual seed crop from one mature tree could treat up to half a hectare.(Such figures are only a rough average. The amount used, of course, is different for each pest and planting density.)

However, it is necessary to use a lot of water because the active ingredients have very low solubility in water. Normally, the proportions employed are about 500 g of kernel steeped in 10 lifers of water.

Water extracts of ground neem leaves are also very useful. Because neem is an evergreen, they are obtainable throughout the year.

Neem Tree Farms in Florida have production trees and they sell a number of Neem products that you won't find in the USA without a lot of searching or a visit to Little India in Southern California.

Besides selling Neem tree saplings, they also have a number of other products like Neem leaves, tree bark (as well as tree bark extracts), personal care products, etc.

Their personal care products are sold by Neem Resource which speaks volumes about their quality. At one time, I believe, you could order whole Neem tree berries - I believe. Here's a link to their Raw Botanicals list of products for example.

Their web site pretty much sucks from a 'user friendly navigation' perspective but if you dig around you can probably find some products or information that would be helpful.

If I lived closer to Florida then I would buy and use their Neem oil - certified organic (legitimate certification) like the products from Neem Resource. I like supporting small farmers that are trying to do something 'out of the box' and they do that and they do it very well, IMHO

HTH

CC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Jerry

Here's their deal on Neem seeds (berries)

 

[ClackamasCootz]

They tried to patent Neem? Or just a specific extract?

The extraction process and their case was so full of holes but all of this came about for the fact that chemists have not been able to synthesize the 'active ingredients' that are manifested in every part of the tree - leaves, bark, roots, berries, etc.

W.R. Grace clearly had done their research and realized that there would a lot of money to be made by running this play by EPA (which they did) and other government agencies in the west.

Ms. Shiva and others fought it first through the government of India who then took the case to the International Court at The Hague.

W.R. Grace lost the case and out that came an organization in India (Parker Group) which now sets the standards on Neem & Karanja oil and the extracts from the trees.

Neem meal (aka 'cake') is a standard fertilizer in India and Pakistan. It's mixed with fresh manures into balls about the size of a tennis ball, allowed to dry and then spread on the fields as they've done for several centuries.

CC

 

[jerry111165]

From all that I've read and seen over the last few years, it seems there's still ALOT to learn about this magical tree.

Thanks CC.

J

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Jerry

I've got some articles, documents, etc. from Iran & Iraq on their Neem tree history I'll send you (PDF). The Neem tree arrived there before the Crusades and became a part of their cultures. About the same time the tree arrived in North Africa in Morocco and Egypt. China began growing Neem trees around 500 AD and became an important crop there as well.

What's interesting is that in each of these cultures, festivals centered around the Neem tree began and continue to this day. Check out the festivals in India like Thorana.

"Even if" you were to set aside the pesticide and fungicide benefits, i.e they didn't exist - you would still want to use the meals (cakes) as a soil amendment and apply the oil as a foliar spray. There's a lot more going on than the 5 or 6 compounds usually discussed.

CC

 

[StRa]

big up for Vandana Shiva!!!

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Navdanya is an organization founded by Ms. Shiva and she has a blog as well.

Navdanya means “nine seeds” (symbolizing protection of biological and cultural diversity) and also the “new gift” (for seed as commons, based on the right to save and share seeds In today’s context of biological and ecological destruction, seed savers are the true givers of seed. This gift or “dana” of Navadhanyas (nine seeds) is the ultimate gift – it is a gift of life, of heritage and continuity. Conserving seed is conserving biodiversity, conserving knowledge of the seed and its utilization, conserving culture, conserving sustainability.

Navdanya is a network of seed keepers and organic producers spread across 16 states in India.

Navdanya has helped set up 65 community seed banks across the country, trained over 5,00,000 farmers in seed sovereignty, food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture over the past two decades, and helped setup the largest direct marketing, fair trade organic network in the country.

Navdanya has also set up a learning center, Bija Vidyapeeth (School of the Seed) on its biodiversity conservation and organic farm in Doon Valley, Uttarakhand, North India.

Navdanya is actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture. It has created awareness on the hazards of genetic engineering, defended people's knowledge from biopiracy and food rights in the face of globalisation and climate change.

Navdanya is a women centred movement for the protection of biological and cultural diversity.

And from the movie Fresh......

Most farmers of the world are women. Most cooks, processors, and food transformers are women. Women’s food economy is shaped by concern for the health of the earth and the health of family and community. Women’s food economy is based on biodiversity and it creates cultural diversity.The food economy is now being hijacked by global corporations.

Diversity is being replaced by monocultures. Seeds are being modified and patented. That is why I started Navdanya (which means 9 seeds as well as the new gift) in 1987. We save seeds as a commons by creating community seed banks.

Over the past two decades more than 55 community seed banks have been created by Navdanya. We help farmers shift from farming with chemicals and GMOs to farming ecologically. We help farmers market their bio-diverse, organic produce directly without middle men, including corporations as middlemen. Farmers production can increase 2 to 5 times. Their incomes can increase up to 10 times. GMOs are getting farmers trapped in debt. And hundreds of thousand of indebted farmers have committed suicide.

Navdanya is building an alternative to seeds of suicide through saving and spreading the seeds of life.

 

[jerry111165]

"Even if" you were to set aside the pesticide and fungicide benefits, i.e they didn't exist - you would still want to use the meals (cakes) as a soil amendment and apply the oil as a foliar spray. There's a lot more going on than the 5 or 6 compounds usually discussed.

This is why bottled nutrients can never win over a true organic garden. I'm no scientist but I do know that there's a lot more going on besides the standard nutritional value of the assorted items that we use in our gardens. I'll admit that I'll never know much about these assorted compounds, enzymes, secondary metabolites and fatty acids like you do, but for me it's enough to know that there's a lot more going on than the basic nutrition gained by many of our amendments - kelp meal being another one. At some point email me the pdf's and I'll be glad to read them.

J

 

[ClackamasCootz]

From The Times of India this past April - Neem Leaves Can Fight HIV Virus

Sonia Arora, an assistant professor at Kean University in New Jersey, is delving into understanding the curative properties of the neem tree in fighting the virus that causes AIDS.

Her preliminary results seem to indicate that there are compounds in neem extracts that target a protein essential for HIV to replicate. If further studies support her findings, Arora's work may give clinicians and drug developers a new HIV-AIDS therapy to pursue.

Extracts from neem leaves, bark and flowers are used throughout the Indian subcontinent to fight against pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

"The farther you go into the villages of India, the more uses of neem you see," said Arora.

Tree branches are used instead of toothpaste and toothbrushes to keep teeth and gums healthy, and neem extracts are used to control the spread of malaria.

Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine, a form of traditional Indian alternative medicine, even prescribe neem extracts, in combination with other herbs, to treat cardiovascular diseases and control diabetes. The neem tree, whose species name is Azadirachta indica and which belongs to the mahogany family, also grows in east Africa.

Arora's scientific training gave her expertise in the cellular biology of cancer, pharmacology, bioinformatics and structural biology.

When she established her laboratory with a new research direction at Kean University in 2008, Arora decided to combine her knowledge with her long-time fascination with natural products. The neem tree beckoned.

Arora dived into the scientific literature to see what was known about neem extracts. During the course of her reading, Arora stumbled across two reports that showed that when HIV-AIDS patients in Nigeria and India were given neem extracts, the amount of HIV particles in their blood dropped.

Intrigued, Arora decided to see if she could figure out what was in the neem extract that seemed to fight off the virus.

She turned to bioinformatics and structural biology to see what insights could be gleaned from making computer models of HIV proteins with compounds known to be in neem extracts.

From the literature, she and her students found 20 compounds present in various types of neem extracts. When they modelled these compounds against the proteins critical for the HIV life-cycle, Arora and her team discovered that most of the neem compounds attacked the HIV protease, a protein essential for making new copies of the virus.

Arora's group is now working on test-tube experiments to see if the computer models hold up with actual samples.

If her work bears out, Arora is hopeful that the neem tree will give a cheaper and more accessible way to fight the HIV-AIDS epidemic in developing countries, where current therapies are priced at levels out of reach of many people.

"And, of course," she noted, "there is the potential of discovering new drugs based on the molecules present in neem."

 

[avant gardener]

ms shiva is a warrior-poet in the truest sense.
i think it's important to point out that there is no "war against the earth" though.
the issue is the war humanity wages against itself.
the earth is going to be just fine no matter what we do.
it's homo sapiens who may well be up shit creek.

 

[jerry111165]

the earth is going to be just fine no matter what we do.

True to a certain extent, but then there's the dumping grounds that the governments use for spent nuclear rods and the Monsanto chemical waste dump sites that really aren't helping things...

I guess you're right tho - over the next several or thousand millions of years Mother will take back over... With the way things are progressing Man may well have killed him/herself off by then, or perhaps the surface of the Earth will be a barren wasteland and we'll be forced underground.

The world as we know it according to the Sci-Fi Channel may very well become a reality someday. Look at what man has done with computers in the last twenty years!

I'm rambling. Carry on.

J

 

[ClackamasCootz]

scrape all the shit off the face of the earth and give it back to the natives

Power doesn't corrupt - it reveals

 

[Gascanastan]

...could be that we're just a energy farm for another species...just
waiting to be harvested after we consume all the resources and store it as body fat
.
...ripe for the pickin'. The third world world reluctantly gathering resources and making the sacrifices for the Chinese to be the industrial slaves to build the technological distractions to keep us 'unaware' while the Hispanic feed the 'American's' to store the fat.....

...and this is where deforestation comes in....got to keep those fat ass Americanz warm so they don't burn up all that fat....and then of course disease....get a disease and well...you need to die NOW....that fat needs to be recycled if it's not going to continue to grow.....yeah you'll get a certain % of fat that dies...but the population isn't to FULL level yet...that's when the Trichs are ready yo~...yeah man...dood...that's why Hilter was taken out..he was fucking up the alien's plan with genocide.

Crazy thinking right there...
....but honestly Thank gawdess for Vandana Shiva