THE cheer that Bt cotton brought farmers in Adilabad district in the last crop season gave way to tears this year. The death of 200 head of livestock after they grazed on residual Bt cotton crops in Talamadugu, Tamsi and Jainad mandals has spelt disaster for small farmers.
Shaikh Aziz of Talamadugu lost a pair of bullocks in the first week of March after they developed symptoms of `food poisoning' following grazing in his field of residual Bt cotton. The farmer owns two and a half hectares and purchased the pair recently for Rs.15,000. Veterinary doctors, who did not want to be identified, said that such deaths had occurred in the past two years. "I remember one bullock dying in Gudihatnoor last January after showing symptoms similar to those of animals this year. The estimated 50 cases which preceded this were dealt with like those of regular poisoning," said one of them.
Reports of animal poisoning began when farmers completed their cotton picking. "On January 18, a number of sheep from Mediguda village in Jainad mandal showed symptoms of food poisoning, such as bloating of the stomach, convulsions, bloody diarrhoea, salivation and uneasiness. These symptoms were reported in sheep from the same village two days later. None were lost after we attended to them. Farmers said the sheep developed the symptoms after grazing on residual Bt cotton crop," said M. Venkataswamy, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Adilabad.
The Animal Husbandry Department issued a press release on February 21 asking farmers to desist from grazing their animals in Bt cotton fields. But reports of animal poisoning continued. "About 40 days back, all 20 cattle that returned from grazing fell sick. I administered castor oil and warm water and managed to save them," recalled Katakam Devanna of Talamadugu. Katipalli Keshav Reddy of Talamadugu said three of his six bullocks came back one evening in the first week of March with bloated stomachs. One died after three days.
While farmers have noted the deaths of 20 bullocks, the Animal Husbandry Department has registered only two: one belonging to Dalarapu Namdev of Kottur in Talamadugu and the other from Belluri village in Jainad mandal. Veterinarians performed a post mortem on the animal from Kottur. Material - including remains of the residual Bt cotton on which the animal had grazed, ruminal contents and pieces of organs such as the spleen and the liver - was sent to the Veterinary Biological Research Institute in Hyderabad for analysis. Its report, released on March 16, stated that the Bt cotton samples tested positive for the toxin hydrocyanic acid (HCN), though it did not specify the level of toxicity present in the plant samples.
The Agriculture Department holds the view that animals may have fallen sick from residual pesticides on the Bt cotton crop.
However, this view does not hold water. Firstly, Bt cotton is genetically modified to avoid excessive use of pesticide sprays. Secondly, the pesticides used were made as far back as August 2006. "No pesticide has such a lasting effect. We need a more detailed analysis to identify the toxin," said Kavitha Kuruganti, consultant, CSA. The veterinarians treating the animals said a regular antidote was not effective and that no treatment existed for HCN.
S. Harpal SinghCOMMents
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