Subject: Re: BT yet again
From: [email-masked]
Date: 5 Jul 94 22:57:09 -0500
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

FYI -

I have seen several threads lately here on the net which seem to
hold BT to be some kind of holy grail - the perfect 'natural'
insecticide. Ain't so. The problem is that resistance develops
to BT rather quickly, especially if it is the sole insecticide
being used. Survey the literature.

The most STUPID idea is to splice BT genes into food crops.
Talk about selection pressure !!! Almost as bad is the idea
of dribbling the live bacilli all over creation. 

BT does not live up to its hype. Also, BT is no more or less
'natural' than any OP insecticides ... just because a bacteria
makes it does not imply that it is more/less harmful to humans
or the environment - anyone who imagines that 'natural' = 'safe'
is free to sample a few micrograms of botulin toxin, or see
what cute cuddly bunnies have done to Australia. 

You wanna kill pesky bugs - use OPs. Chemistry has hardly even
begun to explore all the possible variations on that theme. 
Narrower selectivity and controlled persistence have been
the subjects of intensive research, and good results are
already on the market with many more to come. Come ON now,
drop the 'natural' mumbo-jumbo - after all, if it can exist
then it must be natural. Use what works best, not what fits
some bizzare flower-child mushroom-induced fuzzy-round-the-edges
delusion about 'naturality' (which was mostly just a political
device to create an artificial contrast relative to the 
60s industrial power structure and its 'un-natural' products).

No, I don't sell insecticides ...