THAILAND: GOV'T PASSES UP PEST-FREE COTTON PLANT ...
OTC 05.12.97 03:06
BANGKOK, (Dec. 3) IPS - At first, the prospect of having a
high-yielding cotton plant that needed no pesticides led to rosy
projections of bumper crops and profits for farmers who grow it.
But Thais will not be seeing hundreds of thousands of hectares
planted to Bollgard cotton in the country anytime soon, after
fears were raised that the genetically altered plant may wreak
environmental havoc and put consumers of Thai traditional
medicine at risk.
Last month, the Thai government announced it was calling off
safety and effectiveness tests on Bollgard cotton, developed by
the U.S.-based chemical company Monsanto. The tests, which began
three years ago, were already nearing completion when Bangkok
issued the statement.
Bollgard cotton is also known as Bt cotton because it comes from
plants inserted with bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which kills off
pests. Cotton is among the world's cash crops hardest hit by
pests.
But activists here say there is no guarantee that Bt would not
spread to other plants belonging to the same species as Bollgard
cotton and kill insects in wider areas of the country.
Makers of Thai herbal medicine, in which cotton is an essential
ingredient, also raised concerns about the effect of using
medicines with Bt cotton. The Institute of Traditional Thai
Medicine says 16 species of the "Malvacea" cotton
family are used in the production of traditional health remedies.
According to Witoon Liancharoon of the Alternative Agriculture
Network Thailand, Bt cotton is already being grown commercially
in the United States and Australia. But this is done only in
restricted areas. That would not have been the case in Thailand,
if plans had pushed through.
Witoon notes, for instance, that the plan was to market the seeds
to agriculturists throughout the country. Some 485,000 hectares
of land were to be set aside as cotton-growing areas. Witoon says
the tests here should have been conducted differently from those
in the U.S. and Australia, because tropical Thailand obviously
has different biodiversity conditions. He adds the tests should
have looked into possible risks if someone takes herbal medicine
made with Bt cotton.
"As far as I know," Witoon said, "the tests that
have been done focused only on impacts on useful insects in the
areas and the economic potential of growing (Bt) cotton."
Dr. Pennapa Subcharoen, director of the Institute of Traditional
Thai Medicine, says the Bollgard cotton tests records show that
some 30 percent of the bee population in the test sites died.
However, she told a local newspaper, no further assessment was
made to determine if the Bt cotton was linked to the death of the
bees.
The doctor says a sufficient assessment of Bt cotton is needed
before it can be grown locally in a larger scale.
The Bt cotton tests are considered Thailand's first genetic
engineering experiment in mass production.
Though protests forced the government to rethink the Bollgard
cotton project, Witoon says that does not mean Thailand has heard
the last of such ventures. The country has no laws that help
protect its biodiversity, he says.
"Genetic engineering is something beyond the understanding
of most Thai agriculturists," he observed.
"It is easy to make them welcome anything that gives quick
positive results without knowing of the much more negative
impacts that may follow. If the cotton could help them kill
insects without spending money on insecticides, they would think
this cotton is perfect and the seeds would sell out for
sure," he added.
Witoon says this foolhardiness among many Thai agriculturists
makes the need for a "biosafety law" urgent. "They
have no idea what could happen in the future," he said.
Meanwhile, Witoon's group and the Thai Network on Community
Rights and Genetic Resources are using existing laws in their bid
to change the composition of the cotton testing board.
Under the new Constitution, government bodies are not allowed to
have appointees whose involvement with other groups or private
businesses may result in a conflict of interest.
At present, the cotton testing board has three representatives of
Monsanto as members. If the board's composition is not altered,
no-government groups here say they are ready to sue the
agricultural ministry.
Copyright 1997