Another paper :
Bt cotton spells doom for cattle?
http://www.global-sisterhood-network.org/content/view/1626/59/

S. Harpal Singh

ADILABAD: Grazing on residual Bt cotton crop seems to have resulted
in the death of over 200 animals in various mandals of the district
in the
last two months. The Animal Husbandry Department has sounded an
alarm as the number of sick animals with somewhat classic
poisoning symptoms has kept increasing.

It is a practice among the farming community, especially in the
cotton-intensive
areas, to use residual crops as fodder. As the area under Bt cotton
had
increased substantially this year, large tracts under the crop were
available
for use as fodder after harvesting ended in December-January.

Acute in many mandals
"In all the cases where animals were treated for suspected Bt cotton
poisoning,
the animals showed symptoms like convulsions, nasal discharge,
vomiting,
respiratory problems and diarrhoea," K. Shravan Kumar, veterinary
assistant surgeon, said.

The problem is acute in mandals like Tamsi, Bazarhatnoor, Sirpur(U),
Gudihatnoor,
Talamadugu and Bela. A. Vinod, veterinary assistant surgeon at Tamsi,
said the
problem came to their notice in January. "We are opting for
symptomatic
treatment so long as the `culprit' toxic substance is not identified.
Timely
treatment can save a few animals in our mandal," he said.

"Another bullock died in Talamadugu recently. We have sent the
extracted feed
material after a post-mortem on the animal and leaves, stem and other
material
from the suspected plants for analysis at the Veterinary Biological
Research
Institute in Hyderabad," Y. Sanjiv Reddy, veterinary assistant
surgeon at
Talamadugu, said.

Having noticed similar deaths of sheep from other districts, the
Animal Husbandry
Directorate issued a circular this month to veterinary hospitals
asking them to send
relevant material for analysis. "However, it needs more than an
analysis to curb
the occurrence of animal deaths due to suspected poisoning," a
veterinarian observed.

On 26 Mar 2007 at 19:41, Chalsani wrote:

> "After grazing on non-Bt fields, there is no problem. Only after
> grazing on Bt leaves, sheep and goat are dying," said P Jamalaiah,
> Secretary, AP Shepherds and Goatherds Union.
[...]
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