Friends,
1600 DEAD SHEEP IN INDIA
What a wonderful headline for the opponents of GM cotton!
The ‘news’ has been spread in many media, especially those critical to modern biotechnology in agriculture.
Two well known scientists in the field have carefully scrutinized these newspaper articles, taking the pseudoscientific bla bla apart. The claim, that 1600 sheep have died by feeding on abandoned Bt-cotton fields is not validated by scientific review of the two authors below.
Dr. Shanthu Shantharam is the president of Biologistcs International (USA) (http://www.biologistics.us) and an independent biotechnology consultant with expertise on the safety of biotech crops. Dr CS Prakash is a professor at Tuskegee University (USA) and president of AgBioWorld Foundation(http://www.agbioworld.org)
The original column Bt is Not the Culprit has been published in Biospectrum India June 15, 2006
http://www.biospectrumindia.com/content/columns/10606151.asp
Here is a link with the same text with a few added citations of scientific articles mentioned in the column.
http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Cotton/Bt-is-Not-the-Culprit-AF.pdf
We recommend Greenpeace International to read the above article, in particular also the scientific papers cited.
QUESTION TO ACTIVISTS
We ASK GREENPEACE: Why do we see on your webpage of Greenpeace international those scaremongering accusations without any scientific scrutiny?
We cite out of the original Greenpeace report (link given below):
The impact of GM technology on human health and biodiversity remain unpredictable, untested and irreversible. Despite this, the government is on the verge of approving large scale field trials of GM brinjal (eggplant) – the first GM food crop in India,” said Rajesh Krishnan, Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner. “Indians will be the first people in the world to eat GM brinjal. It’s vital that the Agriculture Ministry first address the question raised by the cows and sheep today – Can GM Foods kill?
Obviously, the Greenpeace representatives writing such alarmist stuff really believe what they write…(frankly: I can hardly imagine - I rather believe that this new scaremongering is part of the campaign to prevent the approval of large scale field trials by the Indian government, where facts don’t count anymore. The real purpose is to strike fear into the heart of the population and government officials in order to get more financial support.)
See:
June 13, 2006
Safety of our food under threat: GM Brinjal to escape scrutiny and enter our plates
Three ‘cows’ and three ‘sheep’, on behalf of 1600 dead cattle, sought an audience with the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Sharad Pawar this morning to present a memorandum (1) drawing his attention to the mysterious deaths of cattle in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. Activists dressed as cows and sheep held up a banner asking, “Did GM Crops Kill Us? Don’t Legalise GM food!” to demand an investigation into the reasons for the inexplicable death of cattle after grazing in Bt cotton fields. Alert signboards depicting upturned cows and sheep (to symbolize their death) with the question, “Can GM crops kill?” were also laid out outside the Ministry of Agriculture.
See the full webpage of Greenpeace as part of a costly campaign with slides, videos and professional treatment of the press.
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/releases/investigations-to-check-for-ge
and:
June 16, 2006
Power Brinjals knock on Minister Sharad Pawar’s door. Ask Minister to prevent GM Brinjal approval
After three days of sustained pressure, union agriculture and food minister Mr. Sharad Pawar met Greenpeace activists at his residence this morning. Mr Pawar assured he would take into account the concerns raised by Greenpeace in the memorandum (1) but will “not influence the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC)” in the upcoming decision on whether to allow large scale field trials of GM brinjal next month.
See the full webpage of Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/releases/power-brinjals-knock-on-minist
Klaus Ammann
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