NPG; Monsanto's cotton has deficiencies: study

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New research into Monsanto's Bt cotton cultivation in Maharashtra by scientists at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) shows the costs are significantly higher than for non-Bt cotton. They also report numerous complaints of Bt cotton suffering from bollworm and other pest/disease attacks.

The researchers recommend that the government should investigate and that if they find Bt cotton is being damaged by bollworm attack, they should not only help the farmers get proper compensation but should also penalise "the companies for making false propaganda about their seed varieties".

[edit] Monsanto's cotton has deficiencies: study

ABHAY VAIDYA TIMES OF INDIA, JUNE 04, 2005 timesofindia.indiatimes.com

PUNE: Biotech major Mahyco-Monsanto's Mech-162 Bt cotton variety that has been banned from cultivation in Andhra Pradesh has been found to suffer from certain deficiencies and contradictions in Maharashtra's Yavatmal and Buldhana districts.

Following a close scrutiny of Bt cotton cultivation in Maharashtra, the Pune-based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) has reported numerous complaints of bollworm and other pest/disease attacks in Monsanto's Mech-162 Bt cotton variety in the two districts.

The institute's recently-concluded study "Economics of Bt Cotton Cultivation in Maharashtra" has recommended that the government undertake investigations to ascertain "whether or not Bt cotton varieties are free from bollworm attack."

If the crops are found to be damaged due to bollworm attack, the government should help the affected farmers to get enough compensation from the seed companies, the study by GIPE scholars A Narayanamoorthy and S S Kalamkar has said.

It has gone a step further and recommended that "if required, the government should also penalise the companies for making false propaganda about their seed varieties, as has been followed in developed countries."

These observations are significant in the context of the ban clamped by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) last month on the commercial cultivation of Mahyco-Monsanto's Mech-12, Mech-162 and Mech-184 Bt cotton varieties in Andhra Pradesh. This ban follows reports of seed failure that have been backed by the Andhra Pradesh government.

The GIPE study based on field survey of 100 Bt cotton farmers in Maharashtra has pointed out that contrary to claims that Bt cotton can reduce the bollworm attack significantly along with substantial drop in pesticide expenses, "the results of our study do not completely support this."

They pointed out that "farmers have reported that Mech-162 variety is more susceptible to pests and diseases as compared to Mech-184 and therefore, the use of pesticides is higher in Mech-162."

According to Monsanto, the genetically-modified Bt cotton, which carries the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) gene, offers long-term protection against cotton's worst enemy, the bollworm insect. It not only gives higher yields than conventional varieties but leads to cost reduction due to the minimal use of pesticides.

The GIPE study states that although these attacks did not lead to severe crop loss due to bollworm, they did increase cost of cultivation due to higher use of pesticides. This, it has pointed out contradicts one of the guarantees given by the seed company on low production cost.

The analytical report on the impact of Bt cotton cultivation on productivity and other economic parameters was based on a comparison of 100 Bt cotton farmers and 50 non-Bt cotton farmers in the prominent cotton growing districts of Yavatmal and Buldhana. The comparison was drawn for the kharif 2003 sowings between Bt cotton varieties Mech-162 and Mech-184, and the popular hybrid varieties, Bunny-145 and Anukur-651.

While Mech-162 and 184 accounted for about 47 per cent of the total cotton area of the Bt cotton growers in the two districts, Bunny 145 and Ankur 651 accounted for 44 per cent of the total cotton area in the two districts.

The average quantity of pesticides used by Bt cotton farmers was found to be relatively lower (3.68 litres/ha) as compared to the non-Bt cotton farmers (3.89 litres/ha) while the cost of Bt cotton cultivation was substantially higher (Rs 26,000/ha) than non-Bt cotton cultivation (Rs 19,300/ha).

[edit] Naschrift NPG

Ook van andere gentechgewassen worden dit soort geluiden al enige jaren gehoord. Kijk bijvoorbeeld in de publicatie Duistere Machten, pag 147, uitgegeven in 2000.

U kunt het boek gratis downloaden via www.ddh.nl

Tegenvallers 'De belofte was dat we minder chemicalien zouden hoeven te gebruiken en hogere opbrengsten zouden halen. Maar laat me duidelijk stellen dat geen van beide beloften wordt waargemaakt. Dit verklaart de voorzitter van de U.S. National Family Farm Coalition media 1999 over Monsanto's Bt-mais. Uit een tweejarig onderzoek van het Amerikaanse ministerie van Landbouw bleken 7 van de 12 onderzochte boeren niet met minder bestrijdingsmiddelen toe te kunnen. Een onderzoek van de Universiteit van ARkansas uit 1998 liet zien dat de opbrengst van genetisch gemanipuleerde katoenstruiken fors achterbleef bij de gentech-vrije."

Dat is dus nu 7 jaar geleden. Hebben wij daar iets van geleerd? Handelen wij er naar? De belangen zijn erg groot. Wie is degene die zegt dat dit zo niet kan?

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