Thread

1. tptacek · 1789617633 · focus · HN ↗

   These stories have all basically been debunked. Monsanto did sue farmers. But they did so in cases where they had evidence that those farmers were not only planting IP-encumbered seeds, but also spraying them with Roundup. You can't do that accidentally: if your seeds aren't genetically modified, Roundup kills your crop.

   1. free_bip · 1789618274 · focus · HN ↗

      The entire concept of IP-encumbered seeds is cruel and dangerous.

      1. derektank · 1789620894 · focus · HN ↗

         I do not think granting someone an exclusive right to sell their new cultivar for 20 years is particularly dangerous, especially when existing variants don’t disappear. I like that someone was incentivized to grow Pink Lady and Cosmic Crisp apples back in the 90s and 2010s and I struggle to see where any cruelty was involved.

         1. tptacek · 1789620995 · focus · HN ↗

            And this isn't even a cultivar. It's a commodity crop in which the only difference between ordinary seeds and Monsanto's seeds is that you could use Monsanto's Roundup pesticide on them without killing them. The seeds were literally just a utility for using a specific Monsanto herbicide system.

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