The Warangal Scandal Raises Serious Questions Regarding the Authenticity of Data Elsewhere

Bt Cotton Briefing Paper

What is Bt Cotton?

Bt Cotton is a Genetically Modified plant that contains a gene from a bacterium (Bacillus thurengiensis or Bt) which helps it produce the toxins needed to kill the bollworm. These toxins, expressed as a protein from all parts of the Bt Cotton plant, bind themselves to the gut cells of the bollworm larvae and thereby kill them.

The gene from the bacterium, along with other genes called “markers” and “promoters” are inserted randomly into the cotton gene sequence in its cells and new plants created which produce the toxin at all times and in all parts of the plant, as shown below. The expression of the toxin is however not controllable.

Cell of a cotton plant Toxin/Pesticide producing gene from Bt Bacteria

Cell of cotton plant with Bt Cotton plant that can produce toxin inserted bacterial gene

The mode of Bt gene insertion into the cotton plant is represented in the picture below.

A Gene Gun used to insert foreign genes into cells. The genes end up in random places resulting in unexpected effects.

This technology is very questionable, given its environmental, social, political and human health ramifications and given its imprecise science especially in the context of pest management in agriculture. The regulation of Bt Cotton in India, including its approval, is very non-transparent, unscientific and non-comprehensive leaving much to be desired and many questions to be answered. Bt COTTON IN INDIA

In India, Bt Cotton is promoted under the brand name called “Bollgard” which is the product of Monsanto and marketed by Monsanto-Mahyco Biotech Ltd (MMB Ltd). The Bollgard Bt gene has now been inserted into many cotton hybrids of the country and the following is a list of Bt Cotton varieties approved for various states for Kharif 2005.

ZONE 2002 2003 2004 2005 NORTH ZONE No Approval No Approval No Approval 6 hybrids Haryana RCH 134 Bt Punjab RCH 317 Bt Rajasthan MRC 6304 Bt MRC 6301 Bt Ankur 651 Bt Ankur 2534 Bt CENTRAL ZONE 3 hybrids 3 hybrids 4 hybrids 12 hybrids Gujarat Mech 12 Bt Mech 12 Bt Mech 12 Bt Mech 12 Bt Madhya Pradesh Mech 162 Bt Mech 162 Bt Mech 162 Bt Mech 162 Bt Maharashtra Mech 184 Bt Mech 184 Bt Mech 184 Bt Mech 184 Bt RCH 2 Bt RCH 2 Bt RCH 118 Bt RCH 138 Bt RCH 144 Bt Ankur 09 Bt Ankur 651 Bt MRC 6301 Bt NCS-145 Bunny Bt NCS-207 Mallika Bt SOUTH ZONE 3 hybrids 3 hybrids 4 hybrids 9 hybrids Andhra Pradesh Mech 12 Bt Mech 12 Bt Mech 12 Bt Mech 162 Bt* Karnataka Mech 162 Bt Mech 162 Bt Mech 162 Bt Mech 184 Bt* Tamil Nadu Mech 184 Bt Mech 184 Bt Mech 184 Bt RCH 2 Bt RCH 2 Bt RCH 20 Bt RCH 368 Bt MRC 6322 Bt MRC 6918 Bt NCS-145 Bunny Bt NCS-207 Mallika Bt Total no. Approved 3 3 4 20

MECH 12 Bt has not been allowed extension after Kharif 2004 in the Southern States and all three Mech Bt varieties as well as MRC 6322 Bt and MRC 6918 Bt have been disallowed in Andhra Pradesh.

THE PROMISES and CLAIMS:

Monsanto-Mahyco Biotech, the main company promoting Bt Cotton claims that:  Bollgard will protect the plant from bollworm attack  Cultivation of Bt cotton will reduce pesticide use considerably and therefore, pesticides- related costs  Cultivation costs will come down significantly  Yields will increase – overall benefits for farmers Despite Monsanto- Mahyco’s false advertisements that appear in newspapers and the TV that Bollgard is the ultimate answer for cotton farmers, it

 Cannot increase yields; increased yields are a misleading allusion being made to supposed protection from crop loss only  Will not control secondary pests. Other pesticides have to be used to take care of aphids, jassids, white fly etc.  It cannot increase the number of bolls or staple length of cotton Bollgard Bt Cotton (being marketed by some companies as “Srinidhi”) has shown through many independent and even official studies that these claims and promises are not always met. Yields and profits were shown to be lower than conventional cotton cultivation and much lower than the claims by the company. Pesticide use has not come down as predicted and many other problems have begun surfacing too, expectably. However, through aggressive marketing and falsified information, more and more farmers are being lured into Bt Cotton cultivation. However, farmers who have incurred losses right from 2002 are still waiting for some justice to come their way.

DISADVANTAGES AND DANGERS OF USING BT COTTON

Pests will become resistant - As the insects feeding on the Bt crops are exposed to the toxin regularly they are very likely to develop a resistance to the toxin. In short, like other pesticides, Bt Cotton allows pests to select for resistance. In fact the company itself recognizes this problem and suggests that 5 rows on non-Bt Cotton be sown along with every acre of Bt Cotton to delay resistance. This strategy is likely to fail in countries like ours where Bt Cotton plots are small. Farmers who have been growing Bt Cotton continuously for 2-3 years now are already reporting more pest incidence on their fields. In order to ensure that the farmer becomes dependent on Bt and to delay the inevitable resistance build up in the pests, the company is getting ready to release Bollgard II, which contains 2 Bt genes.

Secondary pest resurgence - The bollworm is not the only pest that affects cotton. However since Bt Cotton only targets the bollworm, there is often a pest outbreak of sucking pests such as jassids, aphids etc. This is inevitable in nature – when one pest is targeted and controlled in an artificial manner, other pests come back in greater numbers when nature’s balance is tilted. The Bt Cotton companies were also conscious of this which is why they introduced a new scheme in several states - With Bt Cotton, farmers get a pesticide of Tata Mida free!

Health consequences - Like all GM crops, the effects on human health of Bt Cotton are unpredictable and potentially dangerous. It is not clear whether all toxicological tests that were needed to be done to ascertain the health effects of Bt Cotton, were done in India or not. Bt is known to create skin allergies and so on. Similarly, Bt Cotton seed cake and its oil enter the food chain in this country as cattle feed and edible oil. The potential harmful effects are unknown.

Bt Cotton is economically unviable - An economically viable technology is one where inputs are less, water consumption is optimal and outputs are good, providing a margin of profits to farmers in a sustainable fashion. In the case of Bt Cotton, the total input cost is higher with no increase in yield, as several studies point out. Pesticide use and pesticide costs have not come down, especially given the resurgence of secondary pests. Just the cost of one packet of Bt Cotton seed is anywhere between Rs. 1600/- to Rs. 1815/- in the open/legal markets (as compared to the non-Bt hybrid that costs between Rs.380 to Rs 460). In the recent past in some states, the market price for cotton has often fallen below the cost of the Bt Cotton seed itself!

Corporate Control - All GM crops including Bt Cotton are patented. This means that if anyone uses these crops without paying the company, in the long term they can be sued and taken to court by the company. This is how the company ensures that the farmer comes to them year after year thereby keeping their profits secure. The company already has a 2-gene Bollgard II ready to be disseminated once pests get resistant to Bollgard. Hundreds of crores of rupees have been paid by poor cotton farmers to the multinational company Monsanto in the form of royalty fees for the use of their Bollgard gene. Reports on Bt cotton prepared by the government have shown falsification of data where in the falsified version exaggerates the yields, thereby reducing the seed company’s compensation burden. There have also been many disturbing observations made by Bt Cotton farmers and media in several places and these need to be addressed by comprehensive, scientific and transparent studies by the Department of Agriculture, Health and Environment.

Contamination of Soils - Farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have reported that growing a second crop after harvesting Bt Cotton has been adversely affected since the soil conditions have deteriorated due to Bt Cotton. This is very well possible given the potential effect of the toxin from the cotton plant’s roots and its leaf litter on beneficial soil micro-organisms.

Further, during Bt Cotton cultivation, farmers have been instructed by the seed companies to go in for monocropping and so farmers are unable to grow other crops on their fields unlike in conventional farming.

Skin allergies and rashes - Several farmers have reported discomfort and skin allergies while working in Bt Cotton fields. This has also been reported in cases where harvested Bt Cotton has been stored in houses before marketing. This is not surprising given that Bt is known to cause such effects, as shown by some studies.

Cattle deaths/illnesses - Many farmers in Andhra Pradesh reported high incidence of cattle death and illnesses as a result of cattle eating Bt Cotton plants.

Affects/reduces the population of beneficial insects - farmers across the cotton growing states have reported that the diversity and incidence of the beneficial insect population has decreased in the Bt Cotton fields. Once again, this is plausible given that the endotoxin might have a similar effect on all insects having similar gut cells, for instance.

NO LIABILITY – NO ACCOUNTABILITY

The biggest danger with Bt Cotton in India is that there is no accountability in case of failure of the crop due to faulty technology and faulty seed. Failure is a distinct possibility since it is an unpredictable technology and as the experience so far shows, there has been a very uneven performance of the crop across locations, seasons and varieties. However, farmers find that they are unable to claim compensation and their very livelihoods have been jeopardized due to Bt Cotton cultivation. In Andhra Pradesh, there have been instances of suicides by Bt Cotton farmers as there is no redressal mechanism available after the farmer has invested on the crop.

Andhra Pradesh bans Monsanto-Mahyco and its Bt Cotton in the state

Following the large scale failure of Bt Cotton in the state and following the refusal of the companies to pay compensation ordered to hapless, loss-incurring farmers, the state government decided to ban Monsanto-Mahyco in AP and its Bt Cotton varieties.

SAVE YOUR ENVIRONMENT, YOUR LIVELIHOOD AND YOUR AGRICULTURE: SAY NO TO Bt COTTON