GM-free Scotland

News | September '07 | Try yoga

Cotton is the biggest 'non-food' agricultural crop in the world. However, for every 21.8 million tonnes of cotton generated every year, 35 million tonnes of high protein food and feed is produced, 24 million tonnes of cottonseed, husks and meal go into animal feed, and 3.1 million tonnes of cottonseed oil is used for cooking. Cotton's status as a 'non-food', despite up to 65% of the crop entering the human food chain, has given regulators an excuse to pay less attention to the safety of GM varieties.

Thirty per cent of global cotton now contains transgenes for 'Bt' insecticides, and the proportion is expected rise to 50 per cent by 2010.

During the past year, reports of problems with Bt crops have been emerging from all over the world.

Concern about damage to its soil and ecosystem from all Bt toxin-producing plants prompted New Zealand researchers to examine the published literature on laboratory feeding studies. This revealed that important non-target insect species, including bees, butterflies and moths, could be fatally and chronically affected by Bt. Detrimental effects on reproduction, growth and lifespan were noted.

In Arkansas, USA, bollworms which should have been killed by the Bt toxin were found to be feeding in large numbers in GM cotton fields.

After seven years of Bt cotton-growing in China, populations of secondary pests, such as mirids, have increased so much that farmers now have to spray their crops up to twenty times in a growing season. The profits enjoyed during the first three years of GM cotton cultivation have turned into an 8 per cent loss, partly generated because the price of Bt seed is triple that of conventional seed.

The most extensive problems with Bt cotton have been reported in India. Hundreds of sheep and buffalo have died after eating Bt cotton crop residues in a single district (this is the third year such problems have been reported). Resistance to Bt is emerging in bollworms while other pests, such as pink bollworm and sucking insects, are on the increase. Fungal wilting and root rot combined with bacterial leaf blight are devastating Bt cotton crops in some areas; the fungi are expected to remain in the soil causing crop damage for three to five years.

The blame has been laid on a combination of a number of factors: the unsuitability of GM crops for non-irrigated areas; the inappropriate complexity of management practices needed; the abundance of spurious seed; the wide range of pests found in the tropics; and high input costs which include licensed seed, water and chemicals.

Add to this, that state government reports and statistics indicate that Bt cotton has not brought about any rise in productivity nor decline in pesticide use.

Despite all the above, non-Bt cotton seed is simply no longer available for Indian farmers to purchase. Little wonder that, since June 2005, more than 5,000 poverty- and debt-ridden farmers have committed suicide. Scientists have suggested more chemicals be used, while the government has suggested farmers practice yoga and spiritualism.

OUR COMMENT
The only sustainable cure for these human-generated problems is to eliminate Bt cotton. Before it eliminates us.

Try yoga and spiritualism by all means, but wear organic cotton while you're doing your asanas and meditation, because the Bt version has blood on it.

And, is Bt cotton safe to eat?

Who knows.

SOURCES

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