Navdanya International has released the report Seeds of Resistance, which documents the global spread of both old and new GMOs and the dismantling of biosafety regulations across continents. The publication comes as the European Union moves toward deregulating next‑generation GMOs, paving the way for gene‑edited organisms to enter fields and dinner plates without labeling, traceability, or proper risk assessment.
The provisional trilogue agreement on next‑generation GMOs and New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) creates an artificial distinction between categories of NGTs, allowing many of these organisms to be treated as “equivalent” to conventional plants — effectively sidestepping years of precautionary safeguards. This shift, driven by pressure from the agro‑industry lobby, has sparked widespread opposition across Europe. Farmers’ networks, consumer groups, and food sovereignty movements have raised their voices, demanding transparency, freedom of choice, and full respect for the precautionary principle.
The report reveals how the GMO and gene‑editing package is spreading rapidly. In South Africa, over 3 million hectares are planted with GM crops, covering more than 85% of maize, 95% of soy, and nearly all cotton production. In Colombia, GMO cultivation has surpassed 100,000 hectares, while in Bangladesh over 65,000 farmers now grow Bt eggplant. Yet, more than 95% of the world’s seeds still come from traditional local systems, showing that food sovereignty continues to rest largely on the seeds safeguarded by farming communities.
The study highlights how the growth of GMO and gene‑edited crops goes hand in hand with the concentration of control over seeds and genetic traits, even as most of the world’s seeds still come from traditional local systems. Independent research has reported unintended mutations, genetic instability, contamination, and biodiversity loss linked to technologies such as CRISPR‑Cas and gene drive, all in the absence of genuine scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs and NGTs.
Deregulation is unleashing a new wave of patents on seeds and genetic traits, strengthening the power of corporate giants and making it harder for small farmers and independent breeders to access and improve seeds. Ruchi Shroff, director of Navdanya International, stresses that there is nothing “natural” about next‑generation GMOs: the techniques may change, but the underlying logic remains one of seed privatization and the concentration of power in the hands of a few multinational companies, with risks and costs shifted onto farmers and citizens.
In his contribution to the report, agronomist and geneticist Salvatore Ceccarelli, a member of Navdanya International’s Board of Directors, describes GMOs and NGTs as “evolutionarily losing solutions” because they rely on genetic uniformity, whereas both ecology and medicine show that diversity is what underpins productivity, climate resilience, and health. He argues that agrobiodiversity provides farmers with lasting tools to face climate change and pests without depending on patented technologies.
Vandana Shiva, president of Navdanya International, connects this struggle to a broader vision of ecological democracy: for indigenous and peasant communities, seeds are living heritage, not raw material to be patented. Defending seed freedom means defending peoples’ right to choose their food system, their agricultural culture, and their future. “Seeds of Resistance” shows how alliances between peasant networks, indigenous communities, social movements, and consumer organizations — from Latin America to Europe, from Africa to Asia — have won bans, moratoria, protection for native seeds, and GMO‑free territories, while hundreds of organizations are calling for a halt to the deregulation of next‑generation GMOs and for strict rules on labeling, traceability, and risk assessment.