indonesian farmer sued by seed
company
p.raja siregar, walhi/friends of the
earth indonesia
Mr. Tukirin, a 62-year-old farmer in the
Nganjuk district of East Java, Indonesia,
was very surprised when police officers
came to his house and corn field and
accused him of the “illegal certification”
of patented seeds and of stealing seeds
from a hybrid corn producer, PT BISI, a
subsidiary of Asia 's largest agricultural
conglomerate Charoen Pokphand.
Tukirin had not stolen any seeds. In
fact, he had bought them from an authorized
distributor, wanting to develop his corn
cultivation skills and use the harvested
corn as seeds for his next planting. The
hybrid corn he had previously planted and
harvested could only be sold or consumed,
not used to produce seeds to plant.
However, Tukirin successfully
crosspollinated the second set of seeds he
bought, then harvested corn that could be
used as seeds and indeed grew well. He
shared this discovery with other
farmers.
Ironically, Tukurin's hybrid corn
cultivation skills were acquired through a
project coorganized by PT BISI and a local
farmers' organization. Yet the company
penalized Tukurin for the application of
his newly acquired skills, realizing that
farmers would no longer be dependent upon
their product. Company officials visited
Tukirin's field and then went to the
police.
guilty of seed theft?
In February 2005, the court found
Tukirin guilty of illegally adopting PT
BISI's technique, that is committing
“illegal certification”. Tukirin was
sentenced to a one-year ban on planting and
received a fine. Commenting on the
decision, Tukirin insisted on his
innocence: “I bought the seeds and planted
them in my own field. Why should I be
punished?” Other farmers agreed: “We were
not told not to replicate the system in our
fields. So what was the project for in the
first place?”
In addition, the court failed to follow
the proper procedures. Mr Tukirin did not
know he could be represented by a lawyer,
nor did the court provide one. Furthermore,
he did not receive a copy of the verdict
despite having asked for one. Thus, for
five months he did not have access to the
details of his alleged crime. It was only
in June 2005 that Tukirin, accompanied by
WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia ,
managed to acquire a copy. There was no
opportunity to lodge an appeal.
Tukirin's case is only one example of
the lawsuits brought by large companies
against small farmers; many more injustices
can be expected as seed companies
consolidate their control around the world.
