Mortality of livestock linked to Bt cotton yet again

[nosmokes]

more of the same old story and of course Monsanto denies, denies, denies any problems.
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original-siasat

Mortality of livestock linked to Bt cotton yet again

xHyderabd, June 22: Notwithstanding the stout denials by Monsanto-Mahyco, the Animal Husbandry Department has again confirmed that the mortality of livestock that grazed on harvested fields of Bt cotton was indeed observed in February and March this year too, especially in Warangal and Adilabad.

The confirmation is contained in a letter sent by the Director of Animal Husbandry Department to the Chairperson of Genetic Engineering Approval Committee on May 9.

The Director specially asked the GEAC to take into consideration the opinion of sheep growers and arrange for bio-safety studies on applied aspects like continuous grazing of animals on harvested or intact Bt cotton plants and the quantitative analysis of Bt protein in different stages even after harvesting.

2006 instance

In the letter, the Director recalled that last year when similar reports came in, the department had undertaken investigation and analysis of plant samples like leaves, boll, seed and other portions for presence of possible toxins and their ill effects in animals.
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complete article here

[ThomCat]

1. So where are all the regular cheerleaders

insisting that GMOs are perfectly safe and are going to save the world? They're usually on these threads pretty quickly calling all the rest of us luddites.
:eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Cheerleaders?

According to the link, they've found the plants that have been killing the sheep have a high content of hydrogen cyanide. If you'd like to explain to me what that's got to do with Bt cotton, I'm all ears.

[ThomCat]

3. The sheep are all dying after eating the BT cotton.

And never had any problems before when conventional cotton was planted in those same locations. Are you suggesting that it's not the fault of the BT cotton?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. No, only these specific sheep are dying.

There's far more sheep all over the world eating Bt cotton and they're doing perfectly fine.

"Are you suggesting that it's not the fault of the BT cotton?"

Yes. From the look of it, it has something to do with high levels of nitrates, organophosphates, and cyanide. Not Bt.

[valerief]

5. Maybe they're all dead from GMOs. nt

[TZ]

6. India is doing very well with its Bt Cotton

"BT cotton, which helped turn India into a net cotton exporter from a net importer in four years"
And the Biotech firms over there are investing in more GMO's, because they are not growing enough food to feed their very crowded country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070617/sc_afp/indiabiotech;_ylt=Aqe5Z0kM.o5BOPCOMkJ36I.JhMgF

And no, there is no Monsanto association over there. And for those who know, Indian Biotech firms have very good reputations for practicing sound science, and are considered to be extremely competitive with American companies.