Biotech Updates

India: Bt Cotton Consumption not the Cause of Animal Death

July 13, 2007

The All-India Crop Biotechnology Association (AICBA), an organisation of companies engaged in agriculture biotechnology asserted that the deaths of sheep, goat and cattle were not related to consumption of Bt cotton leaves and plants in Andhra Pradesh. Both Mr R.K. Sinha, Executive Director of AICBA and  Mr Raj Ketkar, Joint Managing Director of Mahyco Monsanto report the results from a study by the Centre for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis of IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) commissioned by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).

They further added that none of the reports or analyses concluded that Bt toxin was responsible for sheep mortality in Adilabad and Warangal districts of Andhra Pradesh. The nitrates and nitrites found in the viscera of sheep were in no way connected to Bt cotton. 

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