Yet the agriculture officialdom chooses to serve agro giants, not farmers. Equally distressing is its attempt to allow agro giants to exploit indigenous plants and seeds freely without having to share any benefits with local communities. Like its previous attempt in 2013, the proposed amendments in favour of agro giants remain the same. Under the draft law, farmers can no longer do so, or risk a maximum jail term of two years and/or a maximum fine of 400,000 baht. This principle does not apply only to this controversial draft law which strengthens agro giants' iron grip on farmers and the country's biogenetic resources.

Source: Bangkok Post October 10, 2017 21:33 UTC