Analysis of Monsanto Company - Term Paper Example

?Monsanto Company Monsanto is a multinational agricultural biotechnology company based in the United s. The company has been of great significance to farmers because it has been in the forefront in helping farmers to meet the continually rising demand for food and other agricultural products. In its efforts to achieve this, the company has invested in a lot of research and biotechnological projects aimed at developing crop varieties are highly yielding yet they use less of the key resources, and are drought and disease resistant. Products The company focuses on three major types of products. The first is conventional and biotech seeds that are highest-yielding (Google Finance 2011). The second is advanced technologies and traits that enable durable and more nutritious crops. The last is the most effective and the safest crop protection solutions. Put in simple terms, the company products advanced pesticides, herbicides and crop seeds. Currently, the company leads globally in the production of herbicide glyphosate, the famous herbicide marketed by the brand name Roundup. It also leads globally in the production of genetically modified (GE) seed. The company provides the technology used in as high as 90% of the GE seeds used in the US market (Barlett and Steele 2008). Positive impacts Monsanto is one of the leading global companies committed to sustainable agriculture. The company has been tirelessly working with farmers to help them achieve more yields while at the same time, conserving more of the vital resources and improving lives (Monsanto Company 2011). The company discovers, develops and delivers products that are innovative. These products help the farmers to keep in pace with the rapidly rising demands for such agricultural products. Countries that have widely adopted their biotech traits like South Africa, US, Argentina, Canada and brazil record some of the highest corn yields as compared to those who have not adopted the technologies like the European Union, India, china and Mexico. In order to enable farmers to produce more while conserving more of the essential natural resources, the company has developed seeds that utilise only two-thirds of the key resources for every unit of output to grow crops. They also work towards improving water quality and lessening habitat loss. Monsanto has produced traits that are drought-tolerant and this has become a breakthrough in improving water productivity in farming. Its first corn train that is drought resistant is under regulatory review and is expected to be commercially available by 2012. This is also a big step towards adapting farming to climate change. Monsanto’s products help farmers to maximize soil health both in long-term and short-term basis. This is because its products help farmers to maintain the productivity and integrity of their soil by enabling conservative tillage practices and improved efficiency in the use of nutrient inputs. Through its advanced biotechnologies, Monsanto has been able to improve the lives of many farmers and their dependants. It is projected by 2020, this will include an additional 5 million people from families with poor resources. Monsanto has also started projects like Project Sunshine in India which has tremendously increased corn yields in India (Business Standard 2011). It has already reached 146,000 poor farmers and generated an extra farm income $27 million. Currently, Monsanto is working on ways to assist farmers increase and double their harvest of cotton, corn spring-planted canola and soybeans by 2030. Monsanto has also been actively participating in social responsibilities. In 2010, the company donated 130 tons of vegetable seeds and hybrid corn to the people of Haiti after the devastating earthquake that raked the country in January 2010. Negative impacts According to a document obtained in 2001 from the Center of Public Integrity, the Environmental Protection Agency has identified Monsanto as one of the parties that are potentially responsible for the 56 Superfund sites/contaminated sites in the US. The company has also been sued and has settled many cases for allegedly damaging the health of residents near Superfund and its employees through pollution and poisoning. Still on environmental damage, the company has been reported to have polluted the environment through its unethical disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and was sued for this (Barlett and Steele 2008). Documents provided by plaintiffs in the above-mentioned case was showed that the local Monsanto factory in Aniston, Alabama discharged PCB-laden and mercury waste into local creeks for a period of over 40 years (Forget The Box 2011). A report published in The New York Times indicates that in 1969 alone, Monsanto Company disposed 45 tons of PCBs into Snow Creek (New York Times 2002). The Snow Creek is a feeder for Choccolocco Creek which supplies much of the Aniston’s drinking water (New York Times20 02). In 2003, Monsanto and Solutia agreed to pay $700 million to plaintiffs for settling over 20,000 claims of PCB contamination related sicknesses from the residents of Aniston. Some of the products of Monsanto are threatening the existence or human beings and other organisms. A report released in June 2011 linked Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide with birth defects in chicken and frog embryos (Food First 2011). The alarming part of this is that the situation was witnessed at dilutions that are much lower than those used in garden and agricultural spraying. Many of the seed products produced by Monsanto are specifically genetically modified to ensure they become resistant to agricultural chemicals produced by the company for example Roundup. Concerning its genetically modified (GM) products, it has been noted that a state of hepatorenal toxicity was induced by the GM corn/maize. This was realised when researches used a different statistical analysis on Monsanto’s raw data concerning the same. This was linked to the presence of new pesticides that are associated with the product’s inserted genes (Barlett and Steele 2008). Controversies Some of the products and actions of Monsanto have received great controversies. These include the production bovine growth hormone, the GE seed as well as political lobby practices, aggressive litigation, strong-arming of the seed industry and seed commercialisation practices. Its products and actions have been greatly viewed as being unfriendly to the environment, health of human beings and other organisms as well as farmers. As a result of these, Monsanto has been the chief target of environmental activists and the alter-globalisation movement. In 2009, the company came under the investigation of the US Justice Department as a result of its licensing agreements and business strategies. The Pusztai affair has drawn Monsanto Company into GM food controversies (Smith 2010). These controversies arose out an experiment conducted by Dr. Arpad Pusztai. According to the results of the experiments, Mr. Pusztai claimed that the resultant thickening of the gut epithelium in rats fed with Monsanto’s GE potatoes was a as a result of process of genetic engineering (Smith 2010). In 2007, Monsanto acquired a company which patented the seed technology given the nick-name Terminator. The company was called Delta & Pine Land Company. Terminator produces plants whose seeds are sterile hence they do not flower or bear fruit after the first planting (Progressive Convergence nd). Although this technology prevents seeds from spreading into the wild, customers are required to repurchase seeds for every planting. This means it increases their dependency on seed suppliers. Although it was not meant for commercialisation, the vice president of Delta declared that they were going ahead with this research on the Terminator technology and were moving ahead to commercialise it (Barlett and Steele 2008). The Bovine growth hormone, also known as Bovine somatotropin or rBGH, is another controversial issue surrounding Monsanto. When injected to cows, this synthetic hormone, also abbreviated as rBST, increases milk production (Sustainable Table 2011). rBGH found in the bloodstream of cows stimulates IGF-1, a natural hormone that is directly responsible for the rise in milk production. IGF-1 in the milk of both cows and humans cause fast growth of infants. Although the IGF-1 occurs naturally in the milk of lactating mothers or cows, its effects on non-infants are adverse. It behaves like a cancer accelerator in non-infants and adults. It is associated with colon, lung, breast and prostate cancers. Conclusion Monsanto is one of the global leading companies dedicated to helping farmers to attain sustainable agriculture. Most of these advancements have improve the lives of many people. However, many people have also suffered because of the products and actions Monsanto. As such, there are many controversies surrounding its products and many allegations of poisoning and of people and the environment and this has cost the company several hundreds of millions to pay for such claims. The company should therefore seek better ways of disposing their wastes while researching more to come up with technologies that do not in any way threaten the health or the existence of man and other organisms. References Barlett Donald and Steele James (2008). Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear. Online: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805 [Accessed on 27th August, 2011] Business Standard (2011) 150,000 tribal farmers to get hybrid corn seeds http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/150000-tribal-farmers-to-get-hybrid-corn-seeds/362620/ [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Food First (2011) Roundup and birth defects - Is the public being kept in the dark? http://www.foodfirst.org/en/Roundup+ready+soybeans,+pesticides,+birth+defects [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Forget The Box (2011) Monsanto: The King of Corporate Evil http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forgetthebox.net%2Fmag%2Fmonsanto-the-king-of-corporate-evil.php&rct=j&q=Monsanto%20factory%20in%20Aniston%2C%20Alabama%20discharged%20PCB-laden%20%20mercur&ei=rypeTpGvJaXj4QS6g5gk&usg=AFQjCNEWf0Nb_MpWZPbHwAWYuM-hXQ6slQ&cad=rja [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Google Finance (2011) Monsanto Company http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:MON [Accessed on 27th August, 2011] Monsanto Company (2011) Monsanto Company: Who we are http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/default.aspx [Accessed on 27th August, 2011] New York Times (2002) PCB Pollution Suits Have Day in Court in Alabama http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/27/us/pcb-pollution-suits-have-day-in-court-in-alabama.html [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Progressive Convergence (nd) Monsanto's Terminator Making a Comeback? http://www.progressiveconvergence.com/terminator-comeback.htm [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Smith J. (2010) Genetically Modified Food and Dr. Arpat Pusztai http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_geneticfood36.htm [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Sustainable Table (2011) Sustainable Table http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/rbgh/ [Accessed on 31th August, 2011] Read More