Fast pace in cash crops production is a dream for any agrarian economy;
many ancient civilisations rose by diverting rivers and irrigating arid
lands to grow crops like wheat, maize, rice, and cotton. Asian countries
especially Indian subcontinent and China are those About Usll known
for its cotton made fibre for centuries.
Cotton is a powerful engine for our economy growth; the cotton lint,
cloth, yarn and garments are a big source of foreign exchange and
accounts for around six percent of our GDP; cotton made ups and textile
exports embrace more than $7.3 billion to the national economy which is
around two thirds of the country's export earnings. Cotton is grown over
eighty countries primarily for fibre, but seeds render an important
source of food for livestock and humans. Life of millions of small
farmers, daily wage workers and many small medium business are on the
fortune of this single crop, therefore, the success or failure of cotton
crop has influence not only on exports but also on socio-economic
sectors of various stakeholders - fine quality of cotton production is
the inherent comparative advantage of our textile sector; so have to
take into account the present challenges faced in its production and
value-added fields and preparing for the future changes in its
technologies.
Pakistan's cotton growing sector has made a long and difficult journey;
its performance is marked by a mixed trend; there have been some years
of dismal growth and some years of cruising growth; which has direct
impact on annual economy growth rate. An all time record cotton crop of
14.5 million bales achieved in 2004-05 on the other hand the production
remained less than 10 million bales during 1993-1995, and 1998-1999 due
to out break of cotton leaf curl virus and high temperature. Moreover,
humid climatic conditions has contributed to the eruption of different
Bollworms like Pink, Spotted and American, which severely damaged the
cotton crop in Sindh and Punjab provinces; it has been observed that
during these periods poverty and unemployment increased significantly
especially in the rural areas as economy slowed down.
According to one evaluation an increment of one million bales in cotton
production in turn translates into half a percent increase in GDP.
Although Pakistan is the world's fourth largest producer of cotton after
China, USA and India but its yield in acres ranks 10th in the world. As
a result, Pakistan annually imports around 1.5 - 2.00 million bales of
cotton to meet growing demand from local textile mills; while other
challenges include high price of inputs, higher intensity of insects and
pests, shortage of water, adulterations in pesticides, fertilizers and
seeds furthermore poor infrastructure of marketing.
According to our recent Economic Survey 2005-06, the performance of
agriculture has been weak - due to poor performance of cotton production i.e. 12.4 million bales as against targeted 14.3 million bales. Pakistan
is among the three countries where cotton consumption has substantially
increased during past few years; it is projected that by 2010 we will
need over 15.50 millions balls that's why Government of Pakistan has set
a target to achieve 20.13 millions bales by 2015 under a program "Cotton
Vision 2015". In view of cotton production potential we are already
utilising our land under the cultivation of cotton at its optimum level;
however, area in Balochistan and D I Khan district and in NWFP can be
further considered though there is severe shortage of water; which needs
heavy investment and requires long-term strategies, planning and
sustained commitment. The International Cotton Advisory Committee has
projected the world cotton production by 2010 to be 153 million bales
(weighing 170 kgs each), while the demand would be much higher from
countries like India and China. So, one of the primary concerns is to
meet the requirement of local textile industries.
Insects, diseases, heat stress and drought present the greatest
impediments to accomplish desired yields and quality in cotton.
Pakistan
during the last two decades has also been trying to meet the standard of
fibre traits desired by our textile industry. So far one immediate
solution to improve cotton production can be solved by the adoption of
Genetically Modified (GM) cotton - known as Bt Cotton, which has been
grown successfully in many parts of world like USA, Australia, China,
India; although the technology has great potential, there are genuine
concerns about this technology related to environment, health and
socio-economic. That's why in March an international workshop "Regional
Consultation on Genetically Modified Cotton for Risk Assessment and
Opportunities for Small-scale Cotton Growers" was conducted at National
Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) Faisalabad,
in collaboration with International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC),
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications
(ISAAA) and Common Funds for Commodity (CFC); During the inauguration
session Dr Ansar Pervaz Member Science, Pakistan Atomic Energy
Commission ( PAEC) highlighted the important role of GM cotton for
socio-economic development of the country. Fifty-three foreigner
delegates from all over the globe participated in the program. The main
theme of the project was to share information on benefits and possiblerisks to small-scale farmers in the regions from the use of biotech
insect resistant cotton; and bring together government, private
officials related to decision making on the issue and share with them
the experiences in other countries. The event focused on identifying the
opportunities and challenges to adoption of biotech cotton in key cotton
growing countries in Asia and Eastern and Southern Africa. Furthermore,
impact on the environment, risks to consumers and genetic diversity was
also discussed as well as biotech claims that insect resistant GM
varieties save the environment from injurious chemicals by halving the
use of insecticides, and reduce the chemical exposure of farmers, with
documented benefits to human health was also on agenda. Dr Anwar Nasim,
Chairman National Commission on Biotechnology, Dr Zafar M Khalid
Director, NIBGE, Siestse van Der Verff and other eminent scientists were
also present on the occasion. Dr Rafiq Chaudhry, Technical Director,
International Cotton Advisory Committee said he will support any
research which helps to improve in cotton production. He added funds are
available with the support of CFC for the both GM cotton and non GM
cotton projects; so to get grant come up with solid proposals.
According to one estimate, in Pakistan farmers are using Rs.10 billion
worth of pesticides annually; out of which more than 75% is used on
cotton alone especially to control Bollworm known as "sundies". The
indiscriminate use of pesticides by farmers on one hand has build up
pest resistance against most of pesticides on the other are causing
health hazards to rural community and jeopardizing our environment.
Bt cotton has been manoeuvred by means of modern biotechnology - one or
more foreign genes derived from the soil dwelling bacterium Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) to produce built-in toxins to kill some of the most
injurious pests of cotton; however few spray would be required
occasionally to keep secondary pests under control. It's certainly not
correct to say that at this stage genetically modified cotton are the
total answers to the questions; but they do reduce the risks that
farmers face like the certain insect, pests and weed, and so on. GM
cotton can give the farmer more certainty in knowing what he will
produce better at the end of the season. It is highly specific to the
target organisms alone, and numerous scientific studies have indicated
that Bt has no adverse effects on human health and the environment,
making it an ideal biological pest control tool in integrated pest
management practices.
Global adoption of Bt cotton has risen dramatically from 1.90 million
acres in its introductory period in 1996 to 19.40 millions acres in
2006. Area planted to biotech varieties increased to over one-fourth of
the world total in 2005/06, and it is estimated that biotech varieties
account for 38 % of 86.5 million acres planted to cotton in 2006-07.
The world average yield in 1995-96 was 229 kg/acre, and the average
yield in 2006-07 is estimated to be 294 kg/acre. Much of the increase in
the world yield during the last ten years was related to the use of
biotech cotton. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, India,
Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and USA have commercialised biotech
cotton so far. It is remarkable that in the last cotton growing season
54% of cotton crops grown in USA, 70% in China and 80% in Australia were
with single or multiple Bt genes.
In the Eastern and Southern African region, South Africa has
commercialised biotech cotton. Only Delta-pine varieties have been
engineered and these varieties were planted on over 90% of the cotton
area in South Africa in 2005/06; recently the Government of Uganda has
allowed field trials on biotech cotton. Trials have also been conducted
in Zimbabwe in the past but biotech cotton is still not approved.
Many countries in Asia including Pakistan and Uzbekistan have invested a
significant amount of human and financial resources for the development
of local genetically modified cotton; in Pakistan during 2005-06 season
pre-commercial plantings of Bt cotton have been carried out in Punjab
and Sindh with indigenously developed Bt cotton varieties - "IR-NIBGE-2","IR-FH-901","IR-CIM-448" and "IR-CIM-443".
So far in Asia three countries - China, India and Pakistan claimed that
they have successfully developed genetically modified cotton with their
own genes against bollworms.
National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering -
Faisalabad, and National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology
(NCEMB) University of the Punjab Lahore, have come forward and submitted
applications to the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) - a directorate
being established in the Ministry of Environment for commercialisation
and field trial approvals of their versions of Bt Cotton respectively.
Recently, NCEMB has been granted permission to conduct field trials only
of two Bt cotton varieties "MNH-93" and "CIM 482" with the collaboration
of a local and a multinational company; however application for
commercialisation of Bt Cotton variety "IR-FH-901 of NIBGE is still
under process.
According to our eminent scientist Dr Kauser Abdullah Malik, Member
Planning Commission on Agriculture more than 500,000 acres are presently
under Bt cotton last season, which has not been approved by authorities.
Because of remarkable results of Bt cotton crops grown especially in
China and India since 1997 and 2002 respectively have intensified the
thirst among Pakistani farmers and commercial seed firms to bring GM
technologies into the country.
It is mind boggling that from where such large quantity of seeds has
been sourced in order to cultivate 0.5 million acres of Bt Cotton. It
could not have been possible with out years of organised activity, and
with help from people with technical expertise, it was certainly not a
work of an ordinary farmer. This situation must be seen in the
background where countries are required to abide by their national
biosafety laws for risk assessment and management prior to commercial
release of transgenic varieties. Pakistan approved Biosafety Rules in
year 2005 that require clearance from NBC (National Biosafety
Committee).
Dr Yusuf Zafar, Director Agriculture and Biotechnology, PAEC and
organiser of the meeting said that genetically engineered cotton was
spreading at a brisk pace despite reluctance of some countries to adopt
this technology; he added we believe cotton production have to increase
over the next 15 years as demand is robust but unfortunately commercial
realise of GM cotton has caught up in Pakistan.
In year 2005, China the largest producer of cotton in the world has
grown more than 8 million acres of Bt cotton, whereas, India cultivated
around 3.2 million acres of Bt cotton crops but in 2006/07 India has
tripled acreage for insect-resistant Bt cotton to 9.4 million acres with
support of 2.3 million farmers, surpassing 8.6 million acres in China.
In India, 14% of the total area was under biotech hybrids that benefited
growers through increased yields by providing better protection against
bollworms. Dr C D Mayee Chair - GEAC, India said "cultivation of
transgenic Bt cotton has led to significant reduction in pest-attacks
and 62 Bt-hybrids have been commercialised so far, he further said at
present 28 seed companies are pursuing Bt-cotton in India and more
companies are expected to hit the market in the next year. Dr K B Khadi
Director the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, said
since the technology is in "seed", it does not have the chances of
differentiating between large and small farmers; he claimed that Bt
cotton cultivation has helped both farmers raise their income and the
very fact that area under Bt cotton is increasing shows the growing
acceptability among farmers. Some argued that increase in the cotton
yield in the last 5 years by 46 % only because of the adoption of Bt
cotton while few disagreed that other factors also contributed like four
Mini TMC program.
However one of the limitations is the transfer of Bt
genes into local germplasm; high cost of technology is another issue but
misinformation on benefits as well as risks is hindering governments to
make decisions.
Dr Randay A Hautea Global Coordinator, ISAAA said biotechnology provides
large benefits to all stakeholders, farmers, consumers, and even the
government while protecting the environment at the same time. It is an
alternative that is accurate, predictable, faster, scientific and safe.
Dr Iftikhar A Khan, Dean Agriculture University Faisalabad said
agricultural biotechnology has the potential towards poverty
alleviation, rural development, strengthening trade and economic
competitiveness, provide agricultural sustainability even while
delivering direct benefits to the farmers and consumers.
Prof James McD Stewart USA argued that the prices of seeds for growing
GM cotton would definitely fall when more varieties would be available
for sale; he added the future of crop biotechnology would depend upon it
being perceived as environmentally friendly. Dr Jingyuan Xia - Director
General NATESC, Ministry of Agriculture said Chinese scientists have
developed 55 new GM cotton strains, bringing economic returns of 2.1
billion US dollars, he further said the domestic market share of
China-made insect-resistant GM cotton increased from 5 percent in 1998
to more than 70 percent in 2005; he added Bt cotton increased income of
some 6.8 million farmers as it cut the number of spray from 8 to 3,
while raising yields by 15 percent compared with conventional varieties.
According to some reports in countries that adopted Bt cotton, average
yield increased from 10 to 45 percent while pesticide cost declined by
65 percent in China, 58 percent in South Africa, and over 45 percent in
India.
Pakistan has addressed Intellectual Property Rights by forming an
independent body, the Intellectual Property Organization Pakistan
(IPOP); recently the Cabinet has passed "Plant Breeders Rights" bill to
provide a way to the international seed-breed companies and enhance the
private sector's investment in the seed breeding. It is worth mentioning
that a few Pakistani institutes have applied for patents of some novel
Bt genes; however big multinational companies in the developed countries
own patents of many Bt - genes, its sequences, expression, vectors etc
so any violation of the agreement and commitment with lenders or owners
may attract patent problems under the new intellectual property rights
(IPRs) regulatory regimes and infringement of IPRs law under the WTO,
Paris Club and ultimately can attract legal action against member
countries
Mr Derek Eaton - Researcher from ECART and LEI Wageningen said although
range of studies of agronomic performance and economic impact of GM
crops have been carried our between 1996-2006 while 56 on Bt cotton of
which 42 in only three countries China, India, and South Africa; most of
it indicate that number of insecticides sprays have declined in Bt
cotton fields against bollworms. He added GM Cotton is one example of
crop where IP protection affects investment opportunities and decisions;
however effective IPRs cannot be created quickly...and is also a concern
for many stakeholders.
There are numerous reports of failing GM crops, for example Bt cotton in
the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh- the reason for the failure of the Bt
cotton there had nothing to do with the GM crop. Rather the variety that
was sold to the farmers was not suited to that particular area.
Unfortunately, because of the high profile in the controversy associated
with GM crops, the critics were very keen to say the failure was the
GM's fault. But it has been analysed that the very same variety without
the Bt gene would also have failed in that area. The unpredictable
performance in cotton is attributed to few more reasons like
caterpillars must eat enough treated plant tissue to get a lethal dose
of the toxin, since the toxin has no contact effect; the Bt toxin
rapidly degraded by heat stress, high leaf pH, or desiccation; If
someone backcrossed Bt varieties with other conventional cotton
varieties there is most likely that the optimal level of required Bt
event or toxin may not transfer as in pure Bt cotton seed. Moreover,
usually it is hard to know the lifecycle of such products as all cotton
seed varieties segregate after growing it over number of years; so such
Bt cotton varieties would be very dangerous to adopt both for the cotton
growing farmers environment and economy.
Dr Willy De Greef - Director, International Biotechnology Regulatory
Services said that today, the regulatory environment is far more complex
and hostile; it is not certain that technology developers would be able
to find the regulators as open and willing to help us analyse the issues
and create a high quality and science based approach to risk assessment
for the new classes of GM cotton traits. He added more intractable issue
is the cost of regulatory release and compliance in many cases; which is
higher than cost of actual product development moreover in many
countries the duplication of data for biosafety assessments for
regulatory submissions has become a sizable industry as it provides more
jobs.
The Cartagena Protocol should in principle lead to a significant
reduction of that burden, because it allows importing countries to
accept new GM products without additional requirements - Pakistan is
only signatory to Cartagena Protocol of the biosafety under Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) unfortunately we have not yet ratified it;
that's why losing financial and technical assistance offered by the
UNEP-GEF programs.
It is worth mentioning here that virologist Dr Rob Briddon said that the
situation with cotton leaf curl (CLCV) disease in Pakistan is very
serious especially Burewala virus; so far most of cotton varieties
including Bt cotton varieties are highly susceptible to CLCV Burewala
strain.
Bt crops can help reduce poverty, promote rural development, strengthen
trade and economic competitiveness, and encourage agricultural
sustainability, even while delivering direct benefits to farmers and
consumers while the environmental benefits of Bt crops which were
insecticide reduction, soil conservation and enhanced productivity, and
an enhanced sustainability.
Although Biotechnology is by all means the most controversial
agricultural technology innovation due to the uncertainty and concerns
raised by its biosafety and environmental impacts; but the rise of
modern biotechnologies and life science bring many surprises, change the
paradigms of the society and revolutionise our daily lives. Against the
many exciting successful examples of biotechnology, it is important that
all technologies, bio and non-bio, are to serve the ultimate objective
of improving the overall welfare of human beings and the nature. Thus
crop biotechnology is no exception. It is the foundation of people's
livelihood. Small farmers certainly wouldn't be purchasing and sowing GM
cottonseeds if they weren't reaping benefits out of it. However,
questions will remain in farmers minds like 'Will pests develop
resistance to Bt-cotton?' and 'How long will it take to develop
resistance?' and so on.
Hence, the very high adoption rate of Bt cotton especially in Asian
countries by farmers reflects the fact that biotech crops have
consistently performed well and delivered significant economic,
environmental, health and social benefits to both small and large
farmers.
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