11 Jun 2006
Unusual livestock deaths blamed on Bt Cotton

This is the first time I've seen anything resembling evidence of animal toxicity in a GM plant, and given Monsanto's testing methodology I can certainly see this happening:

Critics point out that there was no bio safety study on Bt cotton leaves, which is consumed by cattle during open grazing.

Monsanto tested only the seeds (!), and claims there are only tiny amounts of the Bt generated toxin present in leaves. I suspect that the testing was not as thorough as it probably should've been. Goats and sheep are incredibly sensitive to certain toxins, and goats in particular are very picky eaters. I wonder if anybody thought to do a "taste" test for goats on aged Bt cotton leaves? Aging has a concentrating effect on plant toxins, and there are cases where goats will pick out the aged "crunchy" leaves over greener, fresher ones (I've always thought this was for the same reason that humans like croutons on salads.)

In any case, unless the companies involved tighten up their testing procedures considerably, this could force me to rethink my contention that the main danger from GM plants is not toxicity to humans or livestock, but rather unintentional spread and crossbreeding with native plant strains.

There is yet another controversy linked to the genetically modified Bt cotton plant and this time it is the alarming reports of sheep and goats taking ill, even dying after grazing on leftover Bt cotton fields.

(link) [NDTV India]

06:05 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link