Patent on seeds not on

Way back in 1985 I wrote my second book entitled Second
Warning. On page 49 we included an article entitled "A Frightening Fact
-– Seeds Under Attack -– PVR".

The Plant Variety Rights came in worldwide in those days and
it was shown in this book to be one of the biggest mistakes that men in their
lust for money ever made.

At that particular point it was common knowledge that the
seeds were being emasculated and turned into hybrids, so that they could only
have one good season of growth and then stop yielding.

We quoted an article entitled "Seeds of disaster" taken
from the Soil Association's Quarterly Review: "Multinationals are
patenting plant life and weeding out variety. They may be sowing seeds of
disaster."

And then 16 years later in the Waikato Times, 26 June
2001, we see: "Call to stop all patents on seeds -– Environment groups say
the patenting of food and seeds by multinational companies threatened food
security and access by farmers to vital genetic resources.

'Seeds should be owned by people. They should not be owned
by multinational companies,' Henk Hobbelink of Genetics Resources Action
International (Grain) told a news conference organised by the Greenpeace group.

Greenpeace spokesman Christoph Then said: 'If we don't
stop companies getting those patents, world food security will be in the control
of those multinationals.'

He added: 'There should be no patents in seeds and food. It
should not be possible to get exclusive rights on world food security.'

A meeting of the Commission for Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture, part of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in Rome
this week brings together representatives of 161 countries seeking to conserve
the world's genetic resources...

The current practice whereby multinationals patented seeds
and foodstuffs in Europe and the US threatened food production by ensnaring
farmers, they said.

'We need more support...for a patent-free zone for plant
genetic resources,' said Then. 'Civil society wants control of its own
resources.'

Blessing Butaummocho, a representative of smallholder
farmers in southern Africa, said multinationals could hold poor farmers to
ransom by forcing them to pay dearly for seeds.

He added: "patents restrict access to seeds for food
production by smallholder farmers. Farmers' access to their own food would be
restricted.'...

More than 90 per cent of the agricultural diversity that
existed at the beginning of the 20^th century had been lost, FAO
officials said." (emphases added).

I well remember some years ago whilst holding lectures in
Queensland Australia, we had the opportunity to visit Mrs Bjelke-Pederson, whose
husband was the Premier of that State.

At a private meeting in her office that day, we were able to
read the Scriptures to her from

Genesis chapter 2, and point out the evil of this Plant
Variety Rights Bill that was coming into Australia at the time. We quote from
Genesis 1:11 & 12 - "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth
brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree
yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw
that it was good." (emphasis added).

We were grateful that this Christian woman was interested to
listen to us and promised that she would do all she could in Federal Parliament
to put a stop to this evil process.

It is clear now that she failed in her attempt, however, it
is also becoming clear that we were on the right track when we tried to do
something initially to stop these things happening.

To all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ today we say we
have nothing to fear, for in the book of

Philippians 4:19, it says: "But my God shall supply all
your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" and then again in
Matthew 6:31-33, he tells us to take no thought what we shall eat or what we
shall drink or what we shall put on, and the key to His provision is to seek
first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto us.

We praise God that He is faithful to His divine Word.