Boliviana negra: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:51, 8 August 2006

Revision as of 20:20, 27 January 2007

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Also known as supercoca or la millionaria, '''Boliviana Negra''' is a relatively new form of [[coca]] that is resistant to [[herbicide]] [[Roundup]], or the isopropylamine salt of [[glyphosate]]. The coca plant is the precursor to the [[drug addiction|addictive]] [[stimulant]] [[cocaine]], one of the most widely consumed [[illegal drugs]] in the world and the source of large amounts of money to various criminal organizations. Since Roundup is a key ingredient in the multibillion-dollar aerial [[coca eradication]] campaign undertaken by the government of [[Colombia]] with US financial and military backing known as [[Plan Colombia]], increasing popularity of Boliviana negra amongst growers could have serious repurcussions for the [[War on Drugs]].

The herbicide resistance of this strain has at least two possible explanations: that a '[[peer-to-peer]]' network of coca farmers used [[plant breeding|selective breeding]] to enhance this trait through tireless effort, or the plant was [[genetic engineering|genetically modified]] in a [[laboratory]]. In 1996, a [[biological patent|patented]] Roundup Ready or glyphosate-resistant [[soybean]] was marketed by [[Monsanto]], suggesting that it would be possible to geneticgenetically modify coca in an analogous manner. Spraying Boliviana negra with glyphosate would serve to strengthen its growth by eliminating the nonresistantnon-resistant [[weed]]s surrounding it. Joshua Davis, in the Wired article cited below, found no evidence of CP4, a protein produced by the Roundup Ready soybean, suggesting Bolivana negra was not created in a laboratory but by selective breeding in the fields.

A [[fungus]], [[Fusarium oxysporum]], has been suggested as a possible successor to glyphosate, although this itself poses hazards to humans and other plant species.