Early in 2008, the Institute of Science in Society received some worrying photographic evidence from an organic farmer in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The pictures showed demonstration plots of the latest cotton from different Indian seed companies. What was being demonstrated was the available varieties of Monsanto's 'Bollgard', GM insect-resistant, cotton. The crops were visibly infested with mealy bug.
These photographs have lead to a strong suspicion that the mealy bug, which is an American variety, was imported along with Bt cotton seeds from the USA.
One year on, an organic city farmer in Maharashtra wrote to the Institute:
“I have been running an organic terrace farm in the city for nine years. However this year we lost so many of our plants – cherries, guava, 4-5 varieties of Hibiscus, pomegranate – to this mealy bug. It has never happened before. In fact earlier, just pruning away the affected part would enable the plant to survive. But this time, all new tender shoots have greater infestation. I have tried neem, tobacco, chilly-garlic extract but nothing has not helped so far. Reading your article (see SOURCE) is giving me the shivers ... What if the effects are migrating to urban areas too ... This year we have been flooded with questions from home gardeners about the mealy bug infestation! Is there a connection? God save us!”
The Indian Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) has recommended a number of strategies to combat the mealy bug, including removing weed varieties which the pest prefers to multiply on, inter-cropping with plants which don't support the pest, scouting for immediate removal of infested plants, and avoiding pesticides in the early growth of the crop to maintain levels of the pest's natural enemies. As a last resort the importation of the mealy-bug's natural enemies from America will be considered.
OUR COMMENT
It seems that, besides swapping one pest for another (see SWAPPING DISEASES – News, February 2010), GM farmers are swapping one kind of labour for another, and one additional expense for another. The reduction in pesticide applications and increased yields promised with Bollgard cotton seem to be fading into the realms of mythology. The impending mealy-bug plague of Biblical proportions seems very real.
What will the next stage in the GM-induced environmental holocaust be? The ravages of an imported mealy-bug enemy? Super-bugs of the insecticidal variety? (See Bt RESISTANCE RIGHT ON CUE – News, March 2010)
If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what GM crops are really feeding to the world, the best thing you can do is subscribe to Science in Society. Check out www.i-sis.org.uk for details.
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