A proposed merger of agribusiness giants Monsanto and Syngenta could further advance the global concentration of the seed market, consolidating the power of a handful of companies over our food system, according to Canada-based civil society organisation ETC Group. If Monsanto succeeds in buying its Swiss rival Syngenta, the very basis of food production could be threatened by a new level of monopoly over seeds. In a report released on Friday, ETC Group warns that if Monsanto and Swiss seed giant Syngenta are allowed to merge, the new company will control 54% of seed sales and a third of the world’s pesticide market. The two companies are currently in negotiations. Last week, Syngenta’s board rejected a $45 billion takeover bid from Monsanto, saying the offer undervalued the Swiss seed giant and did not fully take into account regulatory risks. “This tiny group of companies is attempting to tighten its grip on the global food supply, and the new way of justifying that is pushing the need for climate smart agriculture,” said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group. “For the private sector, ’climate-smart’ implies a patent rush on genetic traits for abiotic stress-tolerance (e.g., drought, heat or salt resistance). But this rush is recent. The big companies’ multi-decade focus on herbicide tolerance has meant that they have neglected or negated much more important stress-tolerant traits and have actually undermined plant resilience“, the report warns. Whatever the result of the current merger machinations, farmers and consumers will be the losers. The organisation believes that farmers who have bred and nurtured seeds for 12,000 years will be forced to pay patent royalties and sign contracts that prohibit them from saving their own seeds. “The agribehemoths claim that only the biggest can feed the world,” said Veronica Villa from ETC Group’s Mexico office. “They’ve been big for decades, and more than 800 million people are still hungry and many more are badly nourished.” (ab)