Washington DC
FARMERS in Mississippi could lose millions of dollars following the partial
failure of a new genetically engineered cotton crop.
The cotton, produced by Monsanto, contains a gene for resistance to the
company鈥檚 herbicide glyphosate, sold as Roundup. It should simplify weed control
by allowing farmers to apply the herbicide directly to their fields without
harming the cotton.
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Some 320 000 hectares across the US were planted with the cotton this season,
its first on the market. Most farmers are happy with the results. But in
Mississippi, and to some extent in Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana, entire
fields have shed their bolls鈥攖he fluffy part harvested for fibre鈥攐r
have developed small, malformed bolls.
Robert McCarty, director of Mississippi鈥檚 Bureau of Plant Industry in
Starkville, says that only Monsanto plants seem to have failed, over an area
totalling 12 000 hectares. 鈥淐otton right across the road of a different variety
was not affected,鈥� he says.
Monsanto maintains that only a few thousand hectares are involved, and argues
that malformed bolls have also been seen with other varieties. But Lisa Drake, a
spokeswoman at Monsanto鈥檚 headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, accepts that
plants that have dropped bolls look similar to those damaged in tests involving
very large doses of herbicide. She speculates that an abnormally cold, wet
spring in Mississippi stressed some plants and reduced their herbicide
tolerance.
Charles Merkel, a Mississippi lawyer representing about a dozen cotton
farmers, accuses Monsanto of trying to play down the problem. He claims that his
clients鈥� losses alone may total millions of dollars.