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I’m not sure what’s going on here….
but all the links to the Hawaiian taro growers have been removed…. This is disappointing as
the taro growers of Hawaii had really good pages of their taro, stories and cultivation
techniques.
I think… and stand to be corrected, but it may be
that their internet servers were provided for, by the associations of the
University of Hawaii. The story here is some of these corporate
waxheads,
with their capitalist clone beliefs, acquired taro cultivars off the islanders, genetically
modified and patented them, then had the audacity to wish for royalties off
each and every corm, that was planted by the
growers…. as well as invasive access to property rights!!!
Naturally, the Hawaiian tarogrowers put up a fight… and won !!! However, it may appear retaliation has
taken place behind the scenes, thus I wonder if some of the growers may have had the
plug pulled on their IT service…???
Anyways, we’re deep in our own
backyard sorting out the same type of draconic mess … but it would be good to get in
touch, once AQIS has left the planet, and see what’s going on…. I’ll include below articles released from
Hawaii sometime last year (2006).. so we can take our hats off
for these fellow growers,….while you make up your own minds !!!
The role of Taro in
Hawaiian culture
From the Molokai
Island Times.
In January of this year, Kauai'i taro farmer
Christine Kobayashi and I sent a letter to UH officials demanding the
University give up its patents on three varieties of taro. Here, I will
attempt to clear up misconceptions about our efforts and explain why Hawaiians
object to UH's patents on taro.Nothing in Hawaiian culture is more sacred than kalo. Wakea, the sky father,
and Ho'ohokukalani, the star mother, gave birth to Haloa, the first-born. Haloa
grew into kalo, the first taro plant. The gods'
second-born was man, whose kuleana was to care for Haloa, the elder brother.
This geneology is more than a fanciful story, a
'myth.' Haloa (kalo) is a
metaphor for our obligation to malama (reverence
and protect) the land and all living things of
Hawai'i.
Guided by Haloa, Hawaiians prospered for over a millenia. We populated the Islands,
caring for and sustained by kalo wherever we
settled. Like kalo, our land and waters come from
the gods. Throughout history, they were managed by the Ali'i
(chiefs) for the collective benefit of our people. The concept of land
ownership was introduced by Western business interests in 1848. Hawaiians
refer to the subsequent period as 'the Mahele',
when foreigners took over our land and carved it up, transforming the gift of
the gods into their private property.
As land was bought up for development, and water diverted for plantations and
hotels, kalo also suffered. Thanks to the mahele, kalo production and
diversity and health have all declined.The
University
of Hawai'i
(UH) says that its scientists will rescue kalo by
manipulating its genes and becoming its absolute owner. We see this as a
second mahele, a mana mahele, because it involves removing kalo
from the collective care of Hawaiians and giving UH complete control over it.
UH has already patented three varieties of taro. Farmers who wish to grow these patented taro must 'license' them from UH, and are
prohibited from selling, distributing, breeding or conducting research on
them. Farmers must also pay UH a portion of their corm sales, and agree to
allow UH personnel to enter their property and sample their taro to make sure
they are not 'illegally' breeding UH's
"property."
UH scientists also say they will save kalo by
manipulating its genes in laboratories. Have they been successful? Despite
their claims, the answer is no. Years of gene-splicing has not produced any
improvement in taro. This failure is the main reason UH's
College
of Tropical Agriculture
and Human Resources agreed to a moratorium on genetic manipulation of Hawaiian
taro last spring (though gene-splicing of Chinese taro continues).
Experienced taro farmers have criticized UH's
patented taro varieties, which were developed by simple cross-breeding.
(Hawaiians have practiced cross-breeding for centuries and never patented the
progeny.) Oahu taro
grower Ken Cook tells us they are 'flat tires,' their initially higher yields
'deflating' after several seasons of cultivation. Cook's associate, Paul Reppun, says they are not significantly more
disease-resistant than other types of taro. Kauai'i
taro farmer Christine Kobayashi tells us that Pa'lehua,
one of the patented varieties, makes poor-tasting poi.While
we believe that UH administrators and scientists have good intentions, sadly,
they lack the mana to understand that genetic
manipulation and patents are a second mahele that descecrates kalo and everything
it means for Hawaiians. And it hasn't worked, either.
We have no objection to UH scientists breeding taro. But they must consult
with Hawaiians to ensure their practices don't violate Haloa.
This they have not done. Instead of patents, for instance, they could discuss
with Hawaiians the possibility of obtaining Plant Variety Protection
certificates for new taro varieties which permit farmers to conduct their own
breeding and research while prohibiting commercial use by others. Instead of
genetic manipulation, they could use marker-assisted breeding and other
advanced techniques.In the end, however, we all
must realize that kalo is not to blame for its
decline, and high-tech attempts to "improve" it will likely
continue to fail.
UH must realize that patents on taro are an abomination and must be
relinquished immediately. Kalo can only be saved by
restoring the soil and streams and culture which has nourished it throughout
our history. This will take political will and courage on the part of UH
officials - standing up for kalo against powerful
development interests, for instance. And it will require renewed dedication
and effort by all of us to strengthen Haloa.
Confusion Grows
Over Taro Patent
Julia Norton-Dennis - jlittle@kgmb9.com
(KGMB9 Radio)
Taro, is not just a sacred native Hawaiian plant. It's a Hawaiian ancestor.
"The main reason why we're here is to protect our kupuna,"
said Noe Goodyear-Kaopua,
who works at Hālau Kū
Māna Public Charter School.
"One of our first kupuna being Haloa, so that's the kalo, the kalo is the elder sibling of Hawaiian people," she
added.
But, the Hawaiians believe their ancestor is being threatened by modern
science.
The University
of Hawai'i's
College
of Tropical Agriculture
and Human Resources has been awarded a patent for a new breed of taro.
"So, we're drawing a line in the sand, and we're saying university you
have crossed over that line. You are going no further," said Hawaiian
activist Walter Ritte.
Hawaiians oppose any genetic modification of their native taro.
"I'm really against it," said Palala
Harada, a student at
Kanuikapono
Public
Charter
School
on Kaua'i, "because in our belief system, we
believe that haloa is very sacred to us and that we
should care for it as an elder rather than just a plant." "To us,
there's a spirit that comes with all things
Hawai'i
or Hawaiian," Harada said.
And the Hawaiians built a rock alter on the lawn of Bachman Hall at the
University
of Hawai'i
Saturday, to demonstrate their commitment to protect their ancestors, and
their opposition to any genetic modification of their sacred plant.
There's some confusion over what the patent is for.
"We are not doing any work on genetically engineering the Hawaiian
taros," said Andrew Hashimoto, Dean of the
College
of Tropical Agriculture
and Human Resources.
The college says it simply combined two varieties of taro, a Hawaiian variety
and a Palauan variety, and came up with a stronger plant that resists
disease.
"The taro that was the result of this, after various trials, was
demonstrated some degree of resistance and that was the concept that was
patented," Hashimoto clarified.
When asked if the words "genetically modified" were in the patent,
Hashimoto simply answered "no."
The college says it's all a misunderstanding -- one it's willing to discuss
with native Hawaiians. "We've tried to inform them, but that perception
seems to persist," Hashimoto said.
Many
questioning why UH should own hybrids
By Jan TenBruggencate,
Honolulu
Advertiser Science Writer
The University
of Hawai'i's
acquisition in 2002 of patents on three taro hybrids has launched a series of
protests by farmers, Hawaiians and others concerned about the cultural,
environmental and economic impacts of taro research.
University officials agree it's a difficult issue and want to launch
discussions to determine how to proceed.
"The conversation
needs to occur right now," said Gary Ostrander, UH-Manoa
vice chancellor for research. "Given how important taro is, I think it's
a moment at which everyone involved should sit down and come to a solution."
Demonstrators upped the
ante with a rally Saturday on the UH campus at which they erected a stone ahu, or altar, with a carved figure of a man holding a
taro plant aloft. The figures represent Haloa, in
Hawaiian tradition the elder brother of the first human, from whose body grew
the first taro, or kalo.
Moloka'i activist Walter Ritte
said the taro issue is a sensitive one.
"They're going to
first manipulate it, then patent it and then own it. They're telling us
Hawaiians what's going to happen to our own biodiversity," Ritte said.
Kaua'i taro farmer Chris Kobayashi said growers for years
have participated in UH taro-breeding experiments, and there never was a
question of someone owning the resulting hybrids.
"We pay taxes for the
university, we help them grow it and now suddenly they own it. We have to pay
a licensing fee if we use it," at a time when farmers' costs are rising
fast, she said.
UH officials said the
patents may actually protect the taro industry. Patents are included in
faculty union contracts, which provide that the inventor or breeder gets half
the patent fees after the university's patenting costs are covered.
"If we don't patent
it, Monsanto or someone else could slightly modify it and patent it. The
thing, from our perspective, is how do you protect the intellectual
property," said Andy Hashimoto, dean of the UH
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
He said the rules are not
unreasonable. If farmers want to buy a patented cultivar from the university,
it costs $2 per huli — the planting stock — which
covers the university's cost of production. Thereafter, farmers can grow it
for three years and then must pay 2 percent of their profits from its use to
UH. Any taro that is for home use or is obtained by trading with other
farmers has no cost.
Some of the roughly 200
people who attended Saturday's demonstration on the lawn near Bachman Hall
said they also are concerned about the university's activities in the genetic
manipulation of taro.
"I think that genetic
manipulation poses threats environmentally. I don't think enough testing has
been done at all to determine if it's safe," said Sarah Sullivan of Hawai'i Seed, a statewide coalition of groups opposing
genetic modification of crops.
Kobayashi said researchers
are inserting into taro the genes from corn, wheat, rice and other crops.
"You don't know what's in it anymore. It's not taro anymore," she
said.
Hashimoto said UH has a
moratorium on any genetic manipulation of Hawaiian taro varieties, although
work is being performed with Chinese taro, bun long, which is not used for
poi.
Protesting a patent
on taro
Kaleo.org,
May 02, 2006
Protesters gathered at Bachman Hall Saturday to protest the patent on taro.
Many members of the community showed up to participate in the event that
included hula, singing and pounding kalo among
other things.
"The University's genetic altering on taro is an assault on our
genealogy," said Andre Perez, one of the organizers of the protest.
Protesters built an altar on the lawn of Bachman Hall that remained there
through yesterday afternoon.
"Putting a patent on taro is like putting a copyright on Jesus, and
every time you pray to him you have to pay me with bread and wine," said
participant Mario Perez.
--
Posted by Luigi to Plant
Genetic Resources News from the Pacific at 5/01/2006 08:05:00 AM
Activists tear up 3
UH patents for taro
By Susan Essoyan sessoyan@starbulletin.com, Honolulu Star
Bulletin.
Chants honoring the Hawaiian people's kinship with kalo,
or taro, began a ceremony yesterday that culminated in Hawaiians tearing up
copies of patents on the staple plant that the University
of Hawaii had decided to
relinquish.
"It is as if the patents were never filed," said Gary Ostrander,
vice chancellor for research at the University
of Hawaii at Manoa,
who attended the event. "Anyone throughout the world may now plant them,
may propagate them, sell them."
Since January, Hawaiians have been pushing the university to give up patents
it had obtained on three varieties of disease-resistant taro it developed.
The Hawaiians argue that kalo as the "elder
brother" of the Hawaiian people should not be owned.
"Today is a victory," said activist Walter Ritte
of Molokai, who helped lead the effort to end the only
patents on Hawaiian taro. "The university has taken a big step by
listening to the people they should be listening to. It's a huge example for
other people to follow."
After a leaf blight wiped out 90 percent of the taro
in Samoa in the 1990s, Ostrander said,
University
of Hawaii scientists were asked
to help.
They used traditional breeding techniques to cross Palauan and Hawaiian taro
to produce three strains resistant to the disease, and the university
obtained plant patents on them in 2002.
In January, Ritte and Kauai
taro farmer Christine Kobayashi sent a letter to the university demanding
that the patents be dropped. Their protest grew, and on May 18, Hawaiians
clad in malo padlocked the entrance to the
university's medical school in an effort to make their point.
"UH did not invent taro, and they had no right to own it or license it
to farmers," Kobayashi said in a written statement yesterday.
After behind-the-scenes negotiations, the university filed "terminal
disclaimers" with the U.S. Patent Office that dissolved its proprietary
interests as of last Friday. It had issued 13 licenses to use the plant, but
licensees no longer owe royalties or any other obligation to the university,
Ostrander said.
"I hope this is an opportunity to continue to develop our existing
relationship based on mutual trust and respect, as undoubtedly we will face
other issues as we go forward," Ostrander said, adding that he had come
to appreciate the Hawaiians' point of view on the issue.
"The Hawaiian people have been modifying and growing taro for 1,000
years, and probably 5,000 years before that in Polynesia,"
he said. "What seems counterintuitive now is that a faculty member can
make an improvement now and patent it."
At yesterday's event at the UH Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of
Hawaii-Manoa interim Chancellor Denise Konan handed
the copies of the patents on three varieties of taro to Kobayashi, Ritte and Jon Osorio, director of the UH Center for
Hawaiian Studies. In unison, the three tore them in half.
The patents were on taro plants named "Paakala,"
"Pauakea" and "Palehua,"
all known for their vigorous growth, good taste, and resistance to taro leaf
blight.
Manu Kaiama, director of the Native Hawaiian Leadership
Project, welcomed the university's move, but said it wasn't making a big
financial sacrifice.
"They don't have much of a market," she said. "I wonder if the
administration would have been willing to give up a patent that was going to
make millions of dollars."
Ostrander acknowledged that the patents are "not a big money maker right
now" but said interest had been expressed in using the kalo varieties in baby food.
Graduate student Kelii Collier called the patent
fight just the first step in a broader movement against other UH undertakings
such as a proposed military research center on the campus.
"It is the beginning for the university to do the right thing," he
said. "The next time we meet it will be to rip out the UARC (University
Affiliated Research
Center) contract."
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Posted by Luigi to Plant
Genetic Resources News from the Pacific at 6/27/2006 09:42:00 AM
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