Save Our Rice Campaign

Rice is life for thousands of millions of people. It is the staple food for more than half of the world population and more than 3,000 million people in Asia alone. It is central to the Asian way of life; deeply embedded in the cultural heritage, spirituality, traditions and norms. Local and traditional rice varieties and ecological farming have sustained our rice farmers and consumers safely for most of foregone decades.

Rice is the principal crop grown in India, and much of the crop is used to feed the domestic population, as rice is the dietary staple for many Indians. In the last five decades the rice heritage has been eroded and is under grave danger of being lost completely.

With globalization and implementation of the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture, control over rice production and agriculture in general has moved more and more from farming communities and peasants to agrochemical transnational corporations (TNCs) and to developed imperialist countries such as the US and Europe. The arrogant trade liberalization policies are continuing to wipe out peasant rice farmers all over Asia as well as small rural entrepreneurs who depend on rice for their livelihoods.

The introduction of hybrid rice also serves as a springboard to genetically engineered (GE) rice. Far from ´feeding the hungry´, as biotech advocates claim, the real purpose of genetic engineering in rice is to expand monocultures of profit that agribusiness built through the Green Revolution. Rice seed varieties are moving from the hands of farmers, particularly women, and indigenous communities to those of seed companies and privatized agencies. The trend of importing rice into our country is posing a threat to our food sovereignty and national sovereignty.

Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) launched Save our Rice Campaign. Peoples' movements and NGO's across Asia have joined in this Campaign to protect our rice culture and wisdom. PAN AP's Save Our Rice Campaign has provided substantial impact in terms of its policy work, networking, and information support. It has challenged the corporate agenda, and at the same time, gained recognition among network groups via various activities and initiatives.

Living Farms in collaboration with Thanal, Kerala, Sahaja Samrudha , Karnataka, SEVA, West Bengal and CREATE, Tamilnadu has been involved in Save Our Rice Campaign in India.

The Save Our Rice Campaign focuses on five major areas, known as the Five Pillars of Rice Wisdom:

• Rice Culture: To raise awareness about local Asian rice culture among societies and to facilitate a sharing of experiences among rice farmers.
• Community Wisdom: To highlight farmers' knowledge and community wisdom by encouraging factors such as intuition, spirituality and ethics in rice cultivation.
• Biodiversity-based Ecological Agriculture: To promote chemical-free and productive biodiversity-based ecological agriculture, aiming towards community self-reliance.
• Safe Food: Awareness building among farmers and consumers about the threats that "high input varieties" and genetic engineering will bring to their livelihoods.
• Food Sovereignty: Community empowerment and support of the resistance against the impacts of globalisation and trade liberalisation on Asian rice cultivation.