GMO'S and India

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+ INDIA: BT COTTON SEEDS CAUSE ALLERGY

A three-member investigation team has investigated reports that farmers of

Nirmar

region have been suffering from allergies after coming in contact with Bt cotton

seed. The team, comprising Dr Ashish Gupta, Ashish Mandloi and Amulya Nidhi,

carried

out the survey in five villages and interviewed 23 labourers and farmers of

Barwani

and Dhar district between October and December 2005.

 

The team said the toxins inside the Bt cotton seed were the main reason behind

the

allergy. Dr Gupta said that all respondents had itching of the skin, while 86%

of

them had eruptions on the body and 56% had swelling of the face and in some

cases

the itching was so severe that they had to discontinue their work, or take

anti-allergy

medicines in order to be able to work.

 

The use of the Bt cotton seed in the past two seasons has made cases of

allergies

in the region surge.

 

The following is from the conclusions of the report:

 

" All the evidence gathered during the investigation shows that Bt has been

causing skin, upper respiratory tract and eye allergy among persons exposed to

cotton.

The symptoms vary from mild, moderate to very severe to the extent that one

woman

had to be admitted for 9 days as a result of allergy. The allergy is not

restricted

to farm labourers involved in picking cotton but has affected labour involved in

loading and unloading Bt from villages to market, those involved in its

weighing,

labourers working in ginning factories, people who carried out other operations

in the field of Bt cotton, or farmers who stored cotton in their homes etc. Thus

the symptom is affecting people widely exposed at different places. The symptoms

were not restricted to one particular farm but several farms in 6 villages...

The

doctor of this area also has reported a spurt of allergic cases in the last 2

seasons

in the cotton season.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6268

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6278

READ THE REPORT in 2 parts:

PART 1

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6265

PART 2

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6266

 

Seeds of Deception author Jeffrey Smith comments on the health problems found

thus

far with Bt toxin:

" Mice exposed to Bt-toxin developed an immune response equal to that of cholera

toxin, developed a greater susceptibility to allergies, and developed abnormal

and

excessive cell growth in their small intestines. Farm workers exposed to even

the

low dose Bt spray showed evidence of allergic sensitivity, and blood tests

showed

an immune response. Preliminary evidence found that thirty-nine Philippinos

living

next to a Bt maize field developed skin, intestinal, and respiratory reactions

while

the maize was pollinating. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6278

 

+ MAHARASHTRA GOVT ANNOUNCES AID TO BT COTTON FARMERS

The Maharashtra Government has announced special financial assistance to the

farmers

who had lost their Bt cotton crop due to disease and other reasons in 2005-06 in

the state.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6263

 

+ BT COTTON SEEDS IN EYE OF POLITICAL STORM

At a time when Mahyco Monsanto is in the process of launching the new version of

Bt cotton, cotton prices have crashed to Rs 2200-2700 per quintal, against Rs

4,300

to 4,500 per quintal. The issue rocked the State Assembly when members of

opposition

parties, including the Congress, staged a walkout in the Madhya Pradesh

Assembly,

alleging heavy losses suffered by farmers due to the low yield from Bt cotton.

They

also accused the ruling BJP of promoting multi-national companies.

 

Samajwadi Party leaders Suneelam, Govind Singh, and Arif Aqeel of Congress

claimed

that thousands of farmers in Malwa and Nimar region found that the average yield

of cotton had been reduced from 15 quintals to only 4 quintals. Demanding

compensation

for the affected farmers, the opposition members claimed that Bt cotton had

proved

to be a failure in terms of cost effectiveness, germination, productivity and

quality.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6272

 

+ NEW HYPE OUT OF OLD BOTTLES IN INDIA

Bt cotton in India has had an appalling press of late, with scores of articles

reporting

everything from failed germination to disappointing yields, from disease

outbreaks

to farmer suicides.

 

But then suddenly in the last few days there's been a very different crop of

headlines:

" India: Biotech cotton enhances farm income " - Fibre2fashion.com, India

" Biotech cotton raises farm income by Rs 558 cr " - Economic Times, India

" GM crops up farmers' income " - Financial Express, India

" Bt cotton helps India increase farm income " - Checkbiotech.org

 

These headlines all relate, as one of these articles notes, to " a study by

UK-based PG Economics " which " claimed that farmers' income has increased

by $124.2 million (Rs 558 crore) on cumulative basis in India with the adoption

of insect-resistant Bt cotton. "

 

This claim is contradicted by other studies, as Ashok B. Sharma in the Financial

Express notes. Sharma also identifies the PG Economics study that is the basis

of

the current claims about Indian Bt cotton production. It's " GM Crops: The Global

Socio-economic and Environmental Impact & The First Nine Years 1996-2004 " .

 

What's interesting about this is that although this report is being used to hype

GM crops in India at the moment, it was released back in October 2005. It also

appears

from the current spate of articles that whoever is hyping this report from last

year is failing to point out that it was commissioned by Monsanto!

 

The report proved controversial on publication, as have other pro-GM reports

commissioned

by the biotech industry from PG Economics. As GM Watch noted at the time, " The

science in the new report is somewhat less than impressive. It's not even clear

where half of their figures come from. Most of the references are presentations

at biotech conferences and unpublished articles and very few appear to have been

peer reviewed. Some of the cited papers are from PG Economics Ltd itself (whose

biotech reports are mostly funded by the biotech industry), the National Center

for Food and Agriculture Policy (described by an article in Science as 'a pro-GM

industry group'), ISAAA (industry funded), etc. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6282

 

+ FARMER BODIES OPPOSE INDO-U.S. RESEARCH INITIATIVE

The proposed India-US Knowledge Initiative in Agri Research and Education has

run

into rough weather, with the farmers' organisations of the UPA coalition

partners

opposing the move. The farmers' organisations have criticised the move as

" surrendering

the interests of Indian peasants to the multinationals based in US " . They have

demanded that the government make the details of the programme public and

initiate

a debate in both the houses of the Parliament.

 

The farmer bodies are warning that the ruling coalition risks electoral defeat

if

it continues with its " anti-farmer policies " . The Indo-US pact on ag research

and education, farmers' leaders point out, will promote GMOs in India, extend a

strong patent regime in Indian agriculture and give the US and its

multinationals

free access to India's remarkable genetic biodiversity. Both Wal-Mart and

Monsanto

are represented on the board overseeing the pact.

 

Among those raising concerns is Krishan Bir Chaudhary, the executive chairman of

India's leading farmers' organisation, Bharat Krishak Samaj. The BKS is the

farming

organisation of India's ruling Congress party.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6262

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6264

 

 

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