An Indian NGO has claimed that a large number of farmers in the Nimar region in south-western Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India, are suffering allergies after coming into contact with BT cotton.A three member investigation team allege this is due to toxins inside that BT cotton seed, which helps the cotton plant fight the deadly American Bollworm.
According to Dr Ashish Gupta, all respondents had itching of skin, while 86 per cent of them had eruptions on body and 56 per cent had swelling of face. In some cases, the itching was so severe that they had to discontinue their work, or had to work after taking anti-allergy medicine.
BT cotton is the most popular of the Bt crops: it was planted on about 1.8 million acres (728437 ha) in 1996 and 1997. The Bt gene was isolated and transferred from a bacterium bacillus thurigiensis to American cotton. The American cotton was subsequently crossed with Indian cotton to introduce the gene into native varieties.
The Bt cotton variety contains a foreign gene obtained from bacillus thuringiensis. This bacterial gene, introduced genetically into the cotton seeds, protects the plants from bollworm (A. lepidoptora), a major pest of cotton. The worm feeding on the leaves of a BT cotton plant becomes lethargic and sleepy, thereby causing less damage to the plant.
