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An in depth reading of the National Food Security Bill in its present form and the decisions of the
recent NAC meeting is indicating that the universal acceptance of a food security law including all
Blocs either geographical or social seems a distant feature. As of now, the people have to content with
the present food entitlement programmes in poverty reduction. The mandate of the proposed Act to
establish of Food security Fund at the Union Level and State Levels to compensate in case of failure to
food provision is itself a nullifying the justifiability of the right to food. With this compensatory
provision, failure to provide guaranteed food, will allow the victims to receive the dole and not the
required food as a fundamental and basic right. The quantitative restriction of 25 kg or 35 Kg per family
per month food supply without guaranteeing the quality of the contents is another flaw. The Exclusion of
Universal Public Distribution System (UPDS) and the inclusion of Targeted Public Distribution System
(TPDS) is another anomaly. The NAC tries to understand the reality of universalisation; but unable to match
it with the economic logic.
The NAC with its political, social and action oriented blend of leadership will find it hard to fulfill the process
of making Law to provide food security to our millions living under hunger and malnourishment unless and
otherwise effective implementation of agrarian reform measures with economic pragmatism by involving
small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural workers with a package of easy access to food producing
resources. In this constructive and inclusive development agenda of proving food security to the suffering
mass; no provision should be inducted to provide a political tool to the party politicians in the name of framing
a “Law For Food Security” . The ruling government of the Union of India is ruled over by the Maoists. The
state governments where the Maoist activities at large are neither willing to check the insurgency nor able
counter the ultimate political challenge posed by such forces. On the other hand the power holding politicians'
are busy in employing intermediary business tactics to lease out the forests, minerals and other common
property resources of natural origins and safeguarded by our generations to Multi National Corporations and
Corporate business houses. The Supreme Court of India rules that the fundamental right life of the people is
a means to achieve the right to food as enshrined in the directive principles of state policy.
In this endeavor, the Ruling Governments by adopting the “Doctrine of Trusteeship over natural resources”.
The NAC may consider in its domain to expand the opportunity of making the Right to Food Law for the
country and the people who are hunger, malnourished and literally innocent even to understand the root
causes of the abject poverty stricken to them. Ability to enact a Food Security Act recognizing the
international human right obligations of Right to Food Law by the Government of India as a state party to
the United Nations System is nothing but the Political will of the leaders who are leading the UPA
Coalition Government. The coalition partners of the present UPA government could demonstrate their
might in guaranteeing the poor, marginalized and neglected communities with the right to food and
prove that the governance of the country is for the people, by the people and of the people as the
founding fathers of the Constitution acclaimed.
KISAN KI AWAAZ
National Magazine of Farmers’ Voice
Editor :
Source: World Development Indicators 2010. which results in global warming. The greenhouse
gases, on one hand, allow the transmission of light
The consequences of these emissions are already reaching the earth, and on the other hand block the
visible with disturbance in climate which in turn is transmission of heat (infra-red radiation) trying to
touching everyone's life. Climate is an important escape from the atmosphere, thus trapping the heat as
factor of agricultural productivity. Climate change is in a 'greenhouse'. The major changes observed as a
Beginning in 1996, genes from bacteria and viruses several times, no tests can prove in advance that the
have been forced into the DNA of soy, corn, cotton, protein will not cause allergies.
and canola plants, which are used for food. Ohio
allergist John Boyles is one of a growing number of As a precaution, scientists compare this new protein
experts who believe that these genetically modified with a database of proteins known to cause allergies.
(GM) foods are contributing to the huge jump in food According to criteria recommended by the World
allergies in the US, especially among children. Health Organization (WHO) and others, if the new
GM protein contains amino acid sequences that have
The UK is one of the few countries that conduct a been shown to trigger immune responses in other
yearly food allergy evaluation. In March 1999, proteins, the GM crop should not be commercialized
researchers at the York Laboratory were alarmed to (or additional testing should be done). Sections of the
discover that reactions to soy had skyrocketed by protein produced in GM soy, however, are identical to
50% over the previous year. shrimp and dust mite allergens. But the soybean got
marketed anyway. Frighteningly, the only published
Genetically modified soy had recently entered the human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted
UK from US imports and the soy used in the study verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers
was largely GM. John Graham, spokesman for the into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to
York laboratory, said, “We believe this raises serious function. This means that years after we stop eating
new questions about the safety of GM foods." GM soy, we may still have the potentially allergenic
protein continuously produced within our intestines.
Genetic engineering may provoke allergies
Damaged soy DNA creates new (or more) allergens
There are many ways in which the process of genetic
engineering may be responsible for allergies. The The process of creating a GM crop produces massive
classical understanding is that the imported genes collateral damage in the plant's DNA. Native genes
produce a new protein, which may trigger reactions. can be mutated, deleted, permanently turned on or off,
This was demonstrated in the mid 1990s when and hundreds may change their levels of protein
soybeans were outfitted with a gene from the Brazil expression. This can increase existing allergen, or
nut. While scientists attempted to produce a healthier produce a new, unknown allergens. Both appear to
soybean, they ended up with a potentially deadly one. have happened in GM soy.
Blood tests showed that people allergic to Brazil nuts
reacted to the beans. It was never marketed. Levels of one known soy allergen, trypsin inhibitor,
were up to seven times higher in cooked GM soy
The GM variety planted in 91% of US soy acres is compared to cooked non-GM soy. Another study
called Roundup Readyengineered to survive discovered a unique, unexpected protein in GM soy,
otherwise deadly applications of Monsanto's likely to trigger allergies.
Roundup herbicide. The plants contain genes from
bacteria, which produce a protein that has never been In addition, of eight human subjects who had a skin-
part of the human food supply. Since people aren't
usually allergic to a food until they have eaten it Contd.on page-13........
India became independent soon after the Great ecological base of productivity in agriculture based on
Bengal Famine which took two million lives. And an a bottom-up decentralized and participatory
independent and free India reclaimed her food methodology.
sovereignty, and food security.
In a seminar on 27 September 1951, organized by the
The Harijan, a newspaper published by Mahatma Agriculture Ministry, a program of regeneration of
Gandhi, which had been banned from 1942 to 1946, Indian Agriculture was worked out, with the
was full of articles written by Gandhi during 1946- recognition that the diversity of India's soils, crops and
1947 on how to deal with food scarcity politically, and climates, had to be taken into account.
by Mira Behn, Kumarappa and Pyarelal on how to
grow more food using internal resources. On 10 June The need to plan from the bottom, to consider every
1947, referring to the food problem at a prayer individual village and sometimes every individual
meeting Gandhi said: field was considered essential for the programme
called 'land transformation'. At this seminar, K M
'The first lesson we must learn is of self-help and self- Munshi told the State Directors of Agricultural
reliance. If we assimilate this lesson, we shall at once extension:
free ourselves from disastrous dependence upon
foreign countries and ultimate bankruptcy. This is not 'Study the Life's Cycle in the village under your charge
said in arrogance but as a matter of fact. in both its aspects hydrological and nutritional. Find
out where the cycle has been disturbed and estimate
We are not a small place, dependent for this food the steps necessary for restoring it. Work out the
supply upon outside help. We are a sub-continent, a village in four of its aspects, (1) existing conditions,
nation of nearly 400 millions. We are a country of (2) steps necessary for completing the hydrological
mighty rivers and a rich variety of agricultural land, cycle,
with inexhaustible cattle-wealth. (3) steps necessary to complete the nutritional cycle,
and a complete picture of the village when the cycle is
That our cattle give much less milk than we need is restored, and
entirely our own fault. Our cattle-wealth is any day (4) have faith in yourself and the programme.
capable of giving us all the milk we need.
Nothing is too mean and nothing too difficult for the
Our country, if it had not been neglected during the man who believes that the restoration of the life's
past few centuries, should not today only be providing cycle is not only essential for freedom and happiness
herself with sufficient food, but also be playing a of India but is essential for her very existence'.
useful role in supplying the outside world with much-
needed foodstuffs of which the late war has Repairing nature's cycles and working in partnership
unfortunately left practically the whole world in want. with nature's processes was viewed as central to the
This does not exclude India'. indigenous agricultural policy.
Recognising that the crisis in agriculture was related Ecological repair of the water and nutrient cycle
to a breakdown of nature's processes, India's first combined with land reform, investments in
agriculture minister, K M Munshi, had worked out a agriculture, fair prices for farmers and consumers
detailed strategy on rebuilding and regenerating the through Universal Public Distribution System were
Farmers suicides are triggered by debt, and the debt The third link in the food chain is people's entitlement
trap is created by a corporate driven agriculture which and right to food. The combination of rising food
maximizes corporate profits by pushing non- prices, decreasing production of pulses and nutritious
renewable seeds and agri-chemicals on impoverished millets has reduced the access of the poor to adequate
and innocent farmers. food and nutrition. Hunger and malnutrition is the
inevitable consequence.
Every fourth India is hungry today according to U.N.
data. India has beaten Sub-Saharan Africa as the And while millions of our fellow citizens starve, the
capital of hunger. One million children die every year Government fiddles with figures. Instead of
as a result of under-nutrition and hunger. addressing the food crisis, the Government is
addressing a fragment of the consequences of the
61 million children are stunted, 25 million are wasted. crisis. Poverty is a consequence, not a cuase.
42% of the underweight children of the world are now
in India. If a community is hungry, families are Fiddling with poverty figures 37 percent in the
hungry, if a family is hungry, children are hungry. Tendulkar Committee Report, 50 percent in the
Saxena Report, 77 percent in the Unorganised Sector
If the entire food chain is broken, then the food chain Report is a deliberate attempt to avoid addressing the
must be fixed. Tinkling with fragments of the broken root causes of hunger and poverty.
chain will not fix it. The food chain begins with the
natural capital of soil, water and seed. The second link In the context of the food and nutrition crisis, the
is the work of hardworking small, marginal farmers proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA) is a
and landless peasants, most of whom are women. The mere fig leaf. It is inadequate because it ignores the
final link is eating. first two links in the food chain, and reduces the scope
of existing schemes for the poor and vulnerable.
The first link has been broken by ecological
degradation and corporate hijack of seed, land and For example the NFSA offers only 25 kgs of grain,
water. Soil erosion, biodiversity erosion, water instead of the 35 kgs per family per month fixed by the
depletion, undernourished food production Supreme Court.
contribute to food insecurity. When peasants loose
access to land, seed and water, they loose access to The India Council of Medical Research fixes the
food. Increase in hunger is a direct consequence. caloric norms at 2400 Kcal in rural areas and 2100
The second link that has been broken is the capacity Kcal in urban areas. The Tendulkar Committee which
LUDHIANA, JULY 13 With the on-set of rainy season, farmers have also been suggested to grow a mixture of
a flood like situation has developed in some parts of the toria and gobhi sarson crops in the middle of
state. In the districts of Patiala, Mansa, Ropar, September.
Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar the crops
in the field have been affected badly. For this, one kg seed per acre of each will be required.
After preparing the fields, the toria seeds can be sown
Keeping in view the current situation, the Punjab by broadcast and gobhi sarson in rows 45 cm apart.
Agricultural University has chalked out a contingent The toria crop will mature in end December while
plan for the crops. gobhi sarson in end March.
Giving details, the Director of Extension Education, Farmers can also grow vegetables. August is suitable
Dr. M.S.Gill said that farmers have been advised to for growing radish, cucurbits like bottlegourd,
adopt various measures to deal with the situation. In the bitterguard and lufa, etc. Lobia (cowpea) can also be
areas where the impact of rains is not so severe, farmers grown for vegetables.
can arrange for the nursery of basmati.
The farmers may obtain nursery of brinjal and tomato
July is a proper month for transplanting basmati crop, from areas unaffected by floods. Dr. Gill said that peas
he said. Two varieties namely, Basmati-370 and
varieties Arkel and Matar Ageta-6 can be grown in end
Basmati-386 can be sown directly, said Dr. Gill adding
September which can yield green pods after 60-65
that when the water drains in the field, the sowing can
days.
be undertaken through broadcasting or using drum
seeder.
The seed rate for these varieties is 45 kg per acre
When the flooded areas will reach the wattar condition, maintaining an inter-row spacing of 30 cm. Dr. Gill
the mash varieties Mash-114, Mash-338 and Mash-1-1 cautioned that for early crop of peas seed treatment
can be sown using 6-8 kg seed per acre. This will give with Bavistin (1 g per kg. seed) must be followed.
3-3.5 q/acre yield of mash, said Dr. Gill. Maize,
particularly the varieties PMH-2 and JH-3459 can also The crop of chilli growing in the field need protection
be grown using 8 kg seed per acre. against fruit rot, anthracnose and wilt diseases which
become serious in rainy season. The PAU
In addition to comforting the demand of green fodder, recommendations need to be followed to keep the
the green cobs from the maize crop can provide good diseases under check.
profit to the farmers. This crop can be followed with
late wheat or sunflower, said Dr. Gill Dr. Gill informed the farmers that PAU has a seed
. stock of 25 quintal of toria which they can obtain for
A mixture of maize and bajra using a seed rate of 15 kg sowing.
maize and 3 kg bajra can be grown for fodder which
will be available after 40 days. He mentioned that the University has formulated
teams to visit different areas under floods to study the
The fields reaching wattar condition in the first week of ground situation and advice farmers about the
September can be sown with toria varieties PBT-37 and contingent measures required, if any.
TL-15 using 1.5 kg seed per acre and maintaining a line
to line distance of 30 cm.
In introductory address President, Bharatiya Earlier, welcoming the gathering, Mr. Sergey Isaev,
Krishak Samaj, Dr. Krishan Bir Chaudhary said Head of Science and Technology, RCSC, said that
that Climate change is a reality and the main cause of global warming is the observed increase in the
the present situation is on account of the average temperature of the Earth's atmoslphere and
anthropogenic activities disturbing the composition oceans in recent decades and its project continuation
of the atmosphere resulting in higher concentration into the future. He pointed out that Russia is today
of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) which accumulates along the world leader in reducing green house gas
with other green house gases (GHG) like methane emissions. Russia accounts for half of all the
and nitrous oxide and contribute to increase in reduction in emissions in the world over the last 20
surface temperature of the earth. The main years.
contributors have been the developed countries like
US and EU but now other developing countries like Making a clarion call on joint efforts by India and
China are slowly replacing as the main polluters. Russia towards reducing the impact of global climate
However, the per capita emission reveals that the change largely affecting mainly agricultural
main emitters are the developed countries. The production, Mr. Oscar Fernandes, M.P.,
consequences of these emissions are already visible Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee
with disturbance in climate which in turn is touching on Human Resource Development, laid emphasis
everyone's life. Climate is an important factor of on focusing more on organic manure in agriculture,
agricultural productivity. Climate change is likely to water conservation and water management.
impact agriculture and food security across the Globally, all societies will be vulnerable to changes
globe. In Another serious challenge confronting the in food production, quality and supply under climate
agriculture is the competition for water resources change along with their consequent socio-economic
increases, and the frequency of extreme pressures. Climate change is also expected to affect
temperatures changes. agricultural and livestock production, hydrologic
balances, input supplies and other components of
Voicing his concern on the negative impact of global agricultural systems.
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August - 2010 Kisan Ki Awaaz 19
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20 Kisan Ki Awaaz August - 2010
National Round Table On FTAs With European Union, Israel
And Its Impact On Indian Agriculture
New Delhi , 29th July, 2010, All India Kisan Sabha (4 Saidul Haque, CPI(M) and Prabodh Panda, CPI and
Ashoka Road), All India Kisan Sabha (4 Windsor Place), Prasenjit Bose, Convenor, Research Unit, CPI(M)
Agragami Kisan Sabha and Samyukt Kisan Sabha jointly among others. The Round Table was presided over by
organised a National Round Table on the issue of Free K.Varadha Rajan, General Secretary, AIKS (4 Ashoka
Trade Agreements with European Union and Israel and Road) and C.K.Chandrapan, President, AIKS (4
its impact on Indian agriculture . The Round Table began Windsor Place).
with the Atul Kumar Anjaan, General Secretary, AIKS (4
Windsor Place) introducing the subject. S.Ramachandran More than hundred delegates from different States
Pillai, President, AIKS (4 Ashoka Road) placed the attended the Round Table and many of them placed their
Resolution. views. After the discussions the resolution was
unanimously
Introducing the adopted. It was
issue Atul also decided that a
A n j a a n delegation of the
questioned the d i f f e r e n t
rationale for the organisations will
utter secrecy in present the
which the FTA resolution to the
negotiations are Prime Minister,
going on and the Agriculture
called upon the Minister and the
Government to C o m m e r c e
make negotiation Minister and also
texts public. petition the
S.Ramachandra Parliament. The
n Pillai stressed R o u n d Ta b l e
that the FTAs are decided to
being used as an intensify the
alternative mode struggle against
to push forward the arbitrary and
the agenda of Free Trade more aggressively in the context unilateral signing of FTAs disregarding the Parliament
of the breakdown of the WTO negotiations. The EU FTA and the States.
will seriously compromise the livelihoods of the
peasantry, workers and rural poor as well as public health Resolutions
he said. He also stressed that the dairy sector and millions
of dairy farmers will be adversely affected by the FTA. In the backdrop of the agrarian crisis and the global
He called for a White Paper on WTO and its impact on the economic crisis this Round Table expresses serious
peasantry and said that no FTA should be signed without concern at the manner in which the Government is
approval of the Parliament and State Governments. entering into Free Trade Agreements. This will only lead
to a further intensification of the agrarian crisis and its
Naren Dey, Agriculture Minister, West Bengal spoke on implications for the peasantry, the working class as well
behalf of the Agragami Kisan Sabha and as the poor could be disastrous. The breakdown of the
N.Chandrashekharan Nair spoke on behalf of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations has caused a stalemate
Samyukt Kisan Sabha and seconded the Resolution. The which has not been overcome despite various efforts.
Round Table was addressed by Dr.Krishan Bir
Chaudhary, President, Bharatiya Krishak Samaj, Afsar The immediate reason for the breakdown was the inability
Jafri, Focus on the Global South, Members of Parliament
Hit by crop failure because of increased salinity in crop here is a huge challenge. Soil salinity is
the soil owing to water surge, farmers of Tumkur pushing farmers to grow the saline-tolerant
and Chitradurga areas of Karnataka are reverting traditional crops their forefathers would cultivate,
to cultivation of traditional saline-tolerant paddy. says Mallikarjun Hosapalya of Dhanya, a
Tumkur-based organisation that works on revival
The fields of farmers in the region that adjoins the of traditional water and seed conservation
tank command area has become saline because of practices.
the stagnation of water.
Also, the district receives scanty rainfall and the
Farmers here have always faced problems about soil is very hard. Devkumar of University of
salinity, but have known to cope with it by Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore says, “As the
growing traditional saline-tolerant varieties that pH level in the soil increases with saline
they have conserved for generations. conditions and low rainfall, there is leaching of
calcium and automatically there is increase in
But in the last few decades, the situation has sodium, which leaves salt deposits.
turned grave and salinity in the soil has increased
tremendously. Farmers in this area say that with The sodium tends to reach the surface, making the
changes in agricultural techniques and patterns, soil more saline. Farmers can grow crops only if
and extensive use of chemical usage, soil salinity the salinity is low, but because of low rainfall the
has increased. salinity has increased and only traditional paddy
varieties can tolerate it.”
Introduction of high-yielding varieties with the
aim of increasing production, has not only Some farmers have used alternate techniques as a
resulted in crop failure, but has also contributed to coping strategy to deal with the problem of
the genetic erosion of traditional landraces. salinity. But not much has been done with regard
to the yield performance of the varieties.
Earlier, farmers practised crop rotation, used
green manure and grew crops using traditional Farmers here have taken to growing the
methods but now the younger generation lacks traditional varieties as a necessity.
the understanding to cope with saline soil and
does not have the knowledge to use alternate They are familiar with local varieties because
crops or methods to tide over the situation. these have many positive characteristics - taste,
price, and milling value are better than that of the
Rise in salinity higher-yielding varieties, though yield is less
compared to rice grown in other areas.
With cultivation patterns changing ever since the
1970s, salinity has increased. Now the soil has no But its sustainability requires awareness and
fertility and has become very hard. Raising any some technical involvement to increase the yield.
While researchers are wasting taxpayers' money to Leaves and stems can be infected, as can the tubers
create hazardous GM blight- resistant potatoes, non- when spores are washed into the soil by heavy rain.
GM highly blight-resistant varieties are already on The disease can be carried from year to year by
the market, with low carbon impact and all-round tubers that were infected in the previous season.
appeal to consumers Dr Eva Novotny
Although soil is not usually a source of the blight, it is
A new trial of genetically modified (GM) crops has possible for the disease to be transmitted when both
begun in England . The Sainsbury Laboratory at the mating types of the blight pathogen are present in the
John Innes Centre in Norfolk is testing a GM version soil.
of the popular Desiree potato to determine whether,
as in the laboratory, the field-grown GM potato will In gardens, it is possible for the disease to be carried
remain resistant to late-blight disease. over on infected foliage in an insufficiently hot
compost heap.
The challenge to develop such potatoes had already
been taken up in 2007 by the German chemical giant Unfortunately, the pathogen is evolving. Until 1976,
BASF, in its Plant Science GmbH division; but their there was only the single mating type A1, which had
trials ended prematurely without a marketable result. various strains, all reproducing asexually.
In fact, all such efforts are unnecessary, as blight- Then mating type A2 appeared in Europe, brought
resistant non-GM potatoes already exist that are also from Mexico (the probable origin of the blight
outstanding in other respects, and further such pathogens) on imported potatoes. The two types
varieties are in the pipeline. were able to mate and produced new strains by
sexual reproduction.
Late blight is a serious disease of potatoes
Since 2005, a highly aggressive strain A2-Blue13
Late blight is “ the most devastating disease of has developed; causing blight in some potato
potatoes and one of the most devastating plant varieties that were previously resistant, and it has
diseases of any crop .” In the UK, farmers typically become the dominant strain in the UK.
spray potato crops with fungicide 10-15 times a year.
There is always the danger that the pathogen will
Much effort, therefore, has been put into means of evolve into a new strain that can overcome the
controlling the disease. As part of good farming resistance of potato varieties now free of the disease,
practice, it is clearly advantageous to plant blight and development of new varieties needs to take place
resistant varieties. on a continuing basis.
The disease can kill all the leaves of a plant within 10 New trial by the Sainsbury Laboratory
days. It was the cause of the great Potato Famine in
Ireland and western Scotland in the 1840s and 1850s. The Sainsbury Laboratory at the John Innes Centre
in Norfolk, England has received approval for field
The pathogen responsible is Phytophthera infestans, trials of GM blight-resistant potatoes, beginning in
notionally a fungus but actually more closely related 2010.
to brown seaweeds. Warm, humid weather favours
the disease. The Laboratory claims that existing non-GM blight-
resistant potatoes suffer from “other deficiencies”,
When kept at the right refrigeration temperature, this Now the war is on. State and federal regulatory agencies,
pasteurized milk now had a shelf life many times longer spurred on by the monopolistic business practices of the
than raw milk. dairy industry, have set out to criminalize the sale of raw
milk. They've raided raw milk resellers, arrested raw milk
So the dairy industry grew profitable and large, and over marketers and seized countless gallons of raw milk to be
the next few generations, Americans got used to "milk" destroyed.
meaning "pasteurized, homogenized milk" even though it
was an unnatural alteration of the real milk that the Raw milk, the bureaucrats say, is dangerous because it
July 12, 2010 - Nearly 20 years ago, Danish pregnancy, than what the men themselves are
scientists first broke the news to the world that exposed to throughout their lifetimes.
men from Western countries seem to be slowly
becoming infertile. A case in point is the disastrous chemical accident
that occurred in 1976 in Seveso, Italy.
Recent research seems to back this up as well,
with average sperm counts having dropped to half The incident caused the highest known human
of what they were 50 years ago. exposure to toxic chemical dioxin.
According to reports, nearly 20 percent of men It was later revealed that pregnant women who
between the ages of 18 and 25 have sperm counts were exposed to the chemical during that time
that are abnormally low. bore male children who ended up having poor
sperm counts.
To put this in perspective, consider the fact that in
the 1940s, men had an average of about 100 Other studies also seem to lend credence to the
million sperm cells per millimeter of semen idea that lifelong sperm counts are determined
(m/ml). during the early stages of male fetal development.
Today, the average is around 60m/ml. Those Interference with the Sertoli cells, which are
among the 20 percent with abnormal levels have responsible for proper sperm development during
less than 20m/ml. fetal development, can lead to lifelong sperm
production problems in males.
So what is the cause behind decreasing sperm
counts? Realistically, there is probably more than "Maternal-lifestyle factors in pregnancy can have
just one cause. quite substantial effects on sperm counts in sons in
adulthood, and the most logical mechanism by
Environmental toxins, synthetic food and water which this could occur is via reducing the number
additives, and estrogenic substances in food are of Sertoli cells," explained Professor Sharpe.
all likely culprits.
In other words, prenatal exposure to toxic
"It's most likely a reflection of the fact that many chemicals is a serious threat to male health, which
environmental and lifestyle changes over the past ultimately threatens the existence of mankind.
50 years are inherently detrimental to sperm
production," explained Professor Richard
Sharpe, a fertility research expert at the Medical
Research Council, in a U.K. Report.
Http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...
But what scientists believe may be the biggest
cause of poor semen quality in men has more to do
with what their mothers were exposed to during