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The first field that was burned belonged to Basanna, who came to know what kind of plants were growing in his field only a few days before the action, when Byre Gowda (Minister of Agriculture of Karnataka) mentioned his name as he disclosed the three sites where Monsanto's trials are being conducted in Karnataka. According to Basanna's testimony, officials of Mahyco Monsanto went to his farm in July and proposed that he grow, free of cost, a new variety of cotton seeds, which they claimed would give very good results. He could not suspect that their intention was to carry out a genetic engineering experiment without his knowledge and consent, risking the future viability not only of his farm, but of his complete community. The officials of Mahyco Monsanto, who have signed a written declaration admitting their illegal behaviour, went regularly to apply manure and pesticides to the Bt cotton, including heavy doses of insecticides. However, the plants still became infested with bollworm (the pest that Bt cotton is supposed to control) and other pests like white fly and red-rot. Despite the heavy use of chemical fertiliser, traces of which still can be observed in the field, the Bt plants grew miserably, less than half the size of the traditional cotton plants in the adjacent fields. Biosafety measures (e.g. buffer zone around the genetically engineered cotton to reduce biopollution, construction of a fence around the field, etc) were implemented by the Mahyco Monsanto. They did not even demarcate the field as biohazard area. The seriousness of this negligence can be assesed from the following report, published by the British newspaper Mail On Sunday on the 25th October: 'One of the worst fears of campaigners against genetically modified crops has almost come true. An experimental crop of oilseed rape that was altered to be resistant to herbicides has had to be destroyed after it pollinated nearby plants. The fear was that, left unchecked, a new breed of superweeds which normal chemicals could not destroy might have resulted with devastating effects for Britains agriculture. Now, in what could be the first case of its kind in the UK, the Government is considering prosecuting the America chemical giant behind the experiment for allegedly contaminating the environment. Basanna has only now come to know that this remarkably inferior cotton variety has polluted next years' cotton harvest in the whole region, rendering it as useless as his field. He has also come to know that he has unknowingly engaged in illegal behaviour by commercialising a cotton variety whose commercial exploitation has not been approved yet. He hence shares the anger of the farmers from the whole region, and has given his approval to the cremation of the cotton. The behaviour of Mahyco Monsanto should not come as a surprise, given the well deserved reputation the USA-based criminal organisation (Monsanto) enjoys all over the world. A prime example of the criminal character of this organisation was exposed by a recently disclosed official report of the Canadian government published in April 21, 1998. This report, prepared by the administration of Health of the Canadian government, describes the illegal tactics used by Monsanto to obtain permision to commercialise Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), the first genetically modified product that was ever commercialised in the world. Monsanto's list of commercial poisons also include the herbicide Agent Orange, which played a major role in one of the most horrible genocides in the history of humankind. Edited from a report sent by:
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