Seed Today

(November 18, 2008) This is one area where Pakistan can learn one or two things from India. In India, Bt Cotton has become a big hit with farmers and the cotton output has gone up drastically after farmers opted for the genetically modified variety of cotton.

But farmers in Pakistan are yet to embrace Bt Cotton and they face the challenge of raising the static cotton production since the last several years.

The projected targets for cotton yields are not being met due to continuing crop losses in Pakistan. Boll worm & Leaf Curl Virus CLCV have played havoc with crops in many areas. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and farmer groups are continuously requesting authorities to bring latest agriculture technologies in cotton so that Pakistan can regain its lost position in the world as a leading cotton producer

Biotechnology seems the likely answer to all these problems in Pakistan cotton fields. Around 8.2 million farmers in 17 countries choose to plant biotech crops.

The use of biotech crops has significantly reduced pesticide usage while increasing yields. It helps in reducing crop loss as the plant is less prone to disease like Bollgard and curl leaf.

BT Cotton can protect against boll worms and may reduce the current losses by half. Other measures like herbicide sprays can further reduce the losses due to weeds. According to cotton industry analysts, Bt technology along with RRF (herbicides) could reduce losses due to pests and weeds by 20 to 50 per cent thereby making up for the 2 million bales deficit that Pakistan currently faces.

Another factor to consider is that as the approval process of BT cotton has taken long, farmers have started importing / smuggling the BT seed.

This led to use of smuggled seed in Punjab by almost 60 per cent farmers. But as there was no stewardship and guidance to the farmers, this posed several serious problems. First, the pirated varieties are not developed for Pakistan's agronomic conditions and do not perform well, especially against mealy bugs and CLCV.

Secondly, while farmers have no assurance that they are purchasing quality BT seeds, they nonetheless reduce insecticide spraying —raising the risk of increased pest damage, particularly later in the season.

Raw material from unapproved BT varieties results in reduced quality cotton which traders are reluctant to export. Majority of cotton farmers are using authentic Bollgard and Bollgard II cotton technologies in India, China, Australia and the US where other BT cotton technologies have been introduced and this clearly demonstrates the preference of growers based on benefits realised by them.

Now Pakistan has signed a deal with Monsanto to initiate collaboration in biotechnology — an extremely favorable development for future commercialisation of transgenic technology in Pakistan.

Monsanto cotton traits are currently approved in 13 countries around the world. Monsanto has already started trial production to assess the BT genes behavior in Pakistan’s soil conditions and climate.