The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce said Friday it is investigating complaints that Monsanto Co.'s Roundup Ready cotton isn't growing properly in some areas.

Lester Spell, commissioner of agriculture, said the department is reviewing complaints from at least four farmers in the Mississippi Delta who say the genetically enhanced cotton is producing bolls that are malformed or are falling off the plant. ``This is a big concern to us,'' Spell said. ``I have dedicated time to the issue and will continue to do so until we get a resolution.''

Problems with the cotton, which was designed by Monsanto and Delta & Pine Land Co. to withstand Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, first surfaced two weeks ago when Monsanto said it had received reports of boll loss in a small area of the Delta.

This week Monsanto and DeltaPine said the problems remain confined and that the cotton is performing well in the rest of the state and in other parts of the country.

``In the first year of any new product introduction it is not uncommon for questions and issues to arise,'' said Gary Barton, a Monsanto spokesman. ``We are aggressively investigating all agronomic and environmental conditions in the affected area that could impact product performance.''

The complaints from farmers could represent the first stage of a legal challenge to Monsanto and DeltaPine. Under Mississippi law, a farmer can't sue a seed company until the Agriculture Department's Seed Arbitration Council has assessed the validity of the claim, held a hearing if necessary and recommended a settlement. If either side rejects the recommendation the case can proceed to court.

More complaints may be ahead. ``We've filed four complaints and we've talked with another 10 or 12 farmers that have the same problem,'' said Charles Merkel, a lawyer with Merkel & Cocke in Clarksdale, Miss.

Farmers across the United States Cotton Belt planted Roundup Ready cotton on 820,000 to 840,000 acres this year, according to DeltaPine.

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