Karachi, Pakistan
June 20, 2009
By Shahid Shah,
The News International
via Checkbiotech
The country has finalised issues
in its negotiations with Monsanto about growing BT cotton which
is expected to increase the yield by 40 per cent.
“Last year, around 28 per cent land was cultivated with BT
cotton, but this year our target is 60 per cent,” Textiles
Adviser Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig told The News. “There are also
arrangements to produce BT seeds locally, and the Economic
Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved growing BT cotton to
increase production,” he said. Pakistan is in the process of
signing a $1bn agreement for the purchase of BT cotton seed from
Monsanto, a seed developing company of the United States, with a
view to increasing cotton production by 40 per cent.
However, it has not been agreed so far how much quantity the
country would purchase. BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a
live microorganism that kills unwanted insects from forests and
agriculture crops. Provided in cotton seed, it boosts the yield
and protects the crop from most of the pests. Currently, farmers
are using BT cotton seed on around 2.7 million acres of land
against total cultivation of over eight million acres in the
country.
BT cotton seed being sold in the country was smuggled and
therefore illegal, said the textile adviser. BT cotton seed
being produced and consumed in Pakistan is from its first
generation and plant insects can develop resistance power
against it. Experts say once BT cotton lost its resistance, the
insect could damage the crop and the seed itself.
BT cotton seed requires continuous improvement in order to cope
with growing immune power of insects. French expert Pierre Louis
Dupont, who has around 20 years of experience in cotton seed
development, was offered to become Pakistan’s consultant in its
negotiations with Monsanto. Dupont, in an interview with The
News, said there was a need to supply second generation BT
cotton seed with weed control capability. With the use of BT
cotton seed, he said, yield could be increased by 40 per cent.
India has boosted its cotton production to 30 million bales from
18 million. Pakistan can increase it to around 18 million bales
from the current 12 million. The textile adviser said they were
going to improve the supply chain. In the last couple of years,
cotton production was low and industrialists suffered due to
imports.
“Our requirement is 16 million bales but production was nearly
12 million bales. Thus, import reaches around 4 million bales.
We can save $5 billion annually by increasing the yield,” Baig
said. “We can negotiate a package with Monsanto to get more
effective results.”
The package includes latest BT cotton seed with weed control
technology called ‘Bollguard II with round-up ready flex’, which
would save up to $250 million spent on pest control. According
to preliminary talks with the company, it would charge $21 or
Rs1,680 for sowing BT seeds over one acre.
Of that amount, the company would return $4.2 or Rs336 to the
farmer for research purpose. “I wish this experience should have
been done in 1996 like India did and we would have saved
billions of rupees,” said Dr Baig opposing usage of smuggled BT
cotton seed.
“It can change the destiny of the nation either way.” Growers
have also welcomed the decision but have some reservations about
seed distribution. Farmers Association of Pakistan’s Director
Brigadier (retired) Rasheed Baig said it was good to import
hybrid seeds.
However, he asked what guarantees the government would give to
the farmers if pests attacked the crop and how the government
would ensure the seed’s availability at controlled rates. A
grower of BT cotton in Mianwali (Punjab), Khan Ameer Azam,
supported the import of Bollguard II, saying if weeds, which
swallowed around 25 per cent of fertiliser, were removed it
would boost cotton production.
In Punjab and Sindh, he said, around 75 per cent of land was
already cultivated with BT cotton, but imports at the government
level would be fine. He also expressed reservations about
possible black-marketing of the seed.
Source:
The News International
via Checkbiotech |
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