Post Source: By Ashfak Bokhari – Monday, 19 Oct, 2009
THE case of Bt cotton which failed to formally make inroads into Pakistan market despite a vigorous campaign by its sponsor firms, has taken a new twist. It may now enter Pakistan from India.
On October 4, The Hindustan Times reported that India’s regulatory body for genetically modified (GM) crops, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), has approved export of Bt cotton seeds to Pakistan. It said that the GEAC, working under the environment and forest ministry, gave permission to top GM seed companies like Monsanto, Bayer and Nath Biogene in September to export GM hybrid seeds to Pakistan for trial. “Our bonhomie with our neighbours (Pakistan) on environment issues from climate change to GM is good,” Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh is reported to have said.
Whether it is in response to Pakistan’s request or Indian companies’ own desire that the export is being permitted is not clear. What is clear is that Monsanto had recently applied for permission to export Bollgard II seeds to Pakistan. As per the new procedure adopted by India, the export of any transgenic material for research purposes requires approval of the GEAC and the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).
The GM companies have generated a great hype in India to convince farmers that Bt cotton cultivation reduces bollworm attack by 58 per cent, raises yield by 24 per cent and results in an extraordinary profit. And the companies boast that it is the Bt cotton seeds that have helped India double its cotton production since 2002 when it was officially allowed for cultivation in certain states. The impression being created is that cultivation of Indian Bt cotton seeds in Pakistan would produce similar results.
Jagresh Rana, director of Monsanto’s Indian subsidiary, stated after obtaining the permission, “it provides us a good opportunity to test highly successful GM cotton seeds in a similar geographical terrain in Pakistan. Bt cotton is grown on the Indian side of border in Abhor in Punjab, and normal cotton is grown on a similar soil in Pakistan. One can see the difference. We have no reason to believe that India’s cotton success story cannot be replicated in Pakistan,” he said.
The other side of the picture, however, is quite opposite. The convenor of Andhra Pradesh Coalition in Defence of Diversity, PV Satheesh, says that contrary to the claims of Monsanto, Bt cotton has failed in Andhra Pradesh. Farmers who cultivated Bt cotton in recent years suffered severe agricultural and financial losses and many families have committed suicide. The region has come to be known as suicide belt. In 2005, Andhra Pradesh government revoked permission to grow three varieties of Bt cotton.
According to Vandana Shiva, a prominent physicist and activist, “the clearance to commercialise Bt cotton was granted by GEAC on grounds that it had been fully tested in Indian conditions, that it does not require pesticide sprays, that it gives higher yield and farmers have higher incomes. “All the claims on the basis of which the clearance was granted have been proven false by the total failure of Bt cotton in states where it was cleared for planting including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.” Last year, Mahyco-Monsanto applied to the GEAC for approval of
a Bt cotton variety for cultivation in north India, but that variety was rejected as it was found susceptible to the dangerous leaf curl virus.
Monsanto whose GM products have been the focus of controversy throughout the world for their effects on crops, human health, environment and land despite a dramatic rise in output, is still resisted in Europe. The US multinational has been consistent in pursuing its case with the officials concerned in Pakistan and using various means and skills to obtain permission for marketing its Bt cotton seeds.
In May last year, it succeeded in obtaining Letter of Intent (not permission) from the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) for marketing certified Bt cottonseed. On December 4, its officials gave a briefing to the steering committee on Bt cotton which was attended by the federal agriculture minister and the ministry appeared inclined to finally let it enter the Pakistan market. Its application is, however, lying with Law and Justice Division for vetting. Meanwhile, a great craze has been witnessed among farmers for using Bt cotton seeds, thanks to Monsanto’s PR offensive. And they have been sowing unspecified varieties of Bt cotton, smuggled from India, on large tracts of land.
Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton growing country in the world and its total cotton acreage is equal to 40 per cent of total cotton cultivated in India. Federal textile minister Rana Mohammad Farooq Saeed Khan said in August that from next year farmers would be allowed to cultivate BT cotton. And on October 13, agriculture minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal confirmed it saying its cultivation would begin from kharif season in 2010. Initially, about 20 per cent certified BT cotton would be planted and the cultivation area would increase with the passage of time.
His ministry officials say that the current production was low because almost 80 per cent of cotton farmers use substandard and unapproved seeds. It can go up only after they begin using certified seeds. Four years ago, less than two per cent area was under BT cotton on illegal basis but majority of growers use BT cotton seeds and the production was declining. These seeds have low resistance and are prone to various diseases that is causing a decline in production and an increase in input cost. Pakistan’s research bodies have developed disease-resistant seeds of BT cotton seeds.
The ministry is in the final phase of negotiations with two local and six international firms, including Monsanto which would be importing BT cotton seeds from its facilities in India. The imported BT cotton seeds may dominate the market in 2010 but local certified seeds would have a major share of the market in coming years. Meanwhile, two Chinese experts in Bt cotton technology visited Pakistan in May and discussed with officials of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) steps to experiment BT cotton production on 800 acres in Punjab and Sindh.
There is a growing resentment among farmers, agriculturists and NGOs over plans for boosting cultivation of Bt cotton and their representatives are campaigning for a ban on the use of genetically modified seeds, which they say, is highly poisonous and harmful for humans as well as for animals. Organisations such as Pesticide Action Network and Roots for Equity have demanded that the government should keep a check on the activities of
agro-chemical companies because they were trying to mislead farmers in their efforts to promote genetically modified crops, especially Bt cotton.
The smuggled BT cotton seed being used in Pakistan is from its first generation and plant insects can develop resistance against it. Experts say once BT cotton loses its resistance, the insect could damage the crop and the seed itself. It requires continuous improvement in order to cope with growing immune power of insects. In India, second generation BT cotton seed with weed control capability was currently being used and has boosted its cotton production to 30 million bales from 18 million. Pakistan can increase its output to 18 million bales from the current 12 million by using GM technology, says the textile adviser.
