Big Setback For Monsanto -
India Refuses GM Cotton
http://www.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/geneng/2001jun21.html
NEW DELHI/LONDON - Greenpeace today congratulated India, one of
the world's leading cotton growing countries (1), for its decision to not
allow the commercial growing of genetically
engineered (GE) cotton but maintain the country's GE free status.
The decision, taken earlier this week by the Indian
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), is a significant set back for
Monsanto, whose local partner, the seed company Mahyco had hoped to introduce
the so called Bt Bollgard cotton (2) for commercial production across up to
potentially 8.5 million
hectares. Monsanto's Bt cotton would have been the first GE crop to be
commercialised in India. The Indian authority ordered an additional
year of field trials for the GE cotton to be conducted under an independent
supervision of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The authorities
concluded that the data provided by the companies Monsanto/Mahyco was not
sufficient as their field trials were not conducted during a normal cotton
season, and therefore, no valid information on the crops performance could be
determined.
"At a time when the issue of GE crops is highly controversial,
increasing scientific evidence emerges about potentially harmful effects of
GE crops to the environment. No
country should blindly rush into taking a decision on commercial
planting," said Michelle Chawla, Genetic Engineering Campaigner for
Greenpeace India. "The fact that Monsanto/Mahyco was hastening the process on
the basis of inadequate data is deplorable."
The companies Monsanto/Mahyco did not inform the Indian
authorities of the emerging problem with their GE cotton in China,
where the pest, cotton bollworm, has already developed some
resistance to the Bt crops and the farmers have to use pesticides
in addition. They also failed to provide any comprehensive
scientific data on the effects of GE Bt cotton on natural enemies
of the cotton bollworm, such as the lacewing, which is used as a
biological pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides.
"Monsanto/Mahyco intended to introduce to India an
outdated GE product that has failed to get market approval in
Europe because of environmental and health concerns. This crop also contains
an antibiotic resistance gene, which may render diseases immune to an
important antibiotic used in India against
tuberculosis, Streptomycin," Chawla added.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: For more Information
contact: Michelle Chawla, Genetic Engineering
Campaigner for Greenpeace India Tel: + 91 9820182304 (mob) or +9111 6962932;
Isabelle Meister, Greenpeace International, Tel: +41 1 4474195; Greenpeace
International Press Office, Teresa Merilainen, Tel: +3120 5236637.
(1) 21% of the world's acreage in cotton is planted in India.
(2) Bt stands for an insecticide usually produced by the
soil bacteria Bacillus thuringensis. The Bt Bollgard also contains
two antibiotic resistance marker genes that provide resistance
against the antibiotics Kanamycin and Streptomycin, used in human
medicine.
(3) Cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera).
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