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| DuPont
"The Miracles
of Science?" DuPont moves to control and manipulate seed On October 1st 1999 Dupont bought the worlds largest seed company Pioneer Hi-bred for $7.7 billion [1]. Dupont now has 18% of the entire global seed market, and a 42% share of the North American hybrid corn seed market, US biggest crop [2] This gives Dupont control of the world's largest proprietary seed bank and a global seeds sales force. E.I. du Pont de Nemours, began manufacturing explosives in 1802, making DuPont one of the oldest corporations in the world. By the turn of the century du Pont de Nemours were America's biggest armaments manufacturer The du Pont family, who still own the controlling interest of the company today, became one of the richest and most powerful families in the US. In the 1910's and 1920's duPont scientists came up with a whole range of new polluting manufacturing processes based on petro-chemicals. The company became, and still remains, the world's leading producer of artificial fibres [3], patenting nylon and rayon in the 1930's, and expanding into Europe and Asia. There is hardly a single chemical toxin in which Du Pont has not played a major role. Dupont pioneered sulfur dioxide, leaded petrol [4], CFC's [5] and recently deep well injection of hazardous waste [6] and used dubious science, political manipulation and cover up to avoid restrictions on their use. |
 
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As the US's chief armourers Dupont
have close ties with the US government and have worked on the nuclear programme
since developing the A-Bomb in WWII [7].
They have operated the infamous Savannah River nuclear plant, where all
the weapons grade plutonium in the Western Hemisphere is produced, since
1952.[8]
Today the corporation's major businesses are chemicals, fibres and polymers, DuPont are the world's forth largest producer of agro-chemicals.[9] With operations in 65 countries half of 1999's $1 billion sales were outside of the US. Dupont's transglobal power often goes unnoticed; most products are not sold under the Dupont name, brand names include Nylon, Teflon, Gore-Tex, Lycra, Silverstone, Stainmaster, Antron, and Remington, and petrol sold under the names Jet and Seca. Dupont are expanding and rearranging, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals and related biotechnology, $1 billion a year is spent on research. In the 21st century the aim is to derive increasing amounts of products from plants and microorganisms through genetic engineering, euphemistically called "life sciences". This includes GE plants producing plastics, industrial enzymes, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The share of the global seed market will be used to market this biotech seed directly to farmers. DuPont cynically present this as "green" technology, the real motive is anticipated profits from lowering costs of production. Decreasing oil resourses are likely to push up costs of production of petro-chemical derived products. Dupont were one of the corporations who formed the Intellectual Property Committee and persuaded the US government to introduce legislation at the WTO to enforce member countries to enact patent laws on plant varities and industrial processes. This became the TRIPs legislation, which will enable Dupont and other transnational corporations to expand into profitable "new markets". Dupont are particularly interested in agricultural and pharmaceutical markets in Brazil, India, SE Asia and the former Soviet bloc. Monsanto, Novartis and AgrEvo (now Aventis) commercialised GE crops first, relying on their early acceptance, which has not happened as they planned, particularly in Europe. Dupont meanwhile maintained a low profile while quietly investing heavily in biotech and planning for longer term acceptance. In addition to Pioneer Hibred, Dupont investments include a state-of-the-art gene sequencing facility to map the corn and soybean genome and the largest soy protein company in the world, Protein Technologies International (PTI). PTI produces soy protein isolate, the most concentrated source of soy protein. Dupont aims to commercialise "healthy" low cholesterol products containing soy isolate, such as sport drinks, protein bars and milk substitutes, made from GE soy beans with traits such as high sucrose, high oleic acid and low saturated fat supplied by Dupont's seed empire.[10] In 1998 Dupont launched a new non-GE soy variety, STS, which is pushed to farmers as an alternative to Monsanto's GE roundup ready variety. Dupont have deals with the largest grain handlers, to pay US farmers premiums for STS soybeans.[11] STS beans are tolerant to sulfonylurea herbicides, a highly toxic class of broad spectrum hebicides.[12] Dupont produce most of the world's sulfonylurea herbicides and have produced a GE sulfonylurea resistant cotton. Chemical resistant seeds are all about control whether GE or not. Dupont make farmers sign up to a contract that dictates every aspect of the growing of the crop, including the use of Dupont's patented sulfonylurea herbicide Synchrony. The STS grower's contract states that Dupont's representatives must be allowed "free and easy access to the fields, harvesting equipment, transportation vehicles, and grain storage facilities used in the production of STS Grain, and to inspect, evaluate and monitor the progress and condition of the crop." [13] |
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Hemp
produces four times as much paper as trees and does not require the sulfur-based
acid chemicals used to break down the glue-like lignin that binds the
fibers of wood pulp. Hemp would be a much less damaging way of making
many of du Pont's products, but without them profiting, as this plant
grows easily without chemicals and could not be patented. Back in 1935,
more than 58,000 tons of hemp seed alone, were used just to make non-toxic
paint paint and varnish. |
