Genetically modified crops have been introduced in Pakistan since the last few decades. Many people are in favor of GM crops but there are a number of people who argue against the production and commercialization of GM crops. As everything has a dark and bright side, GM crops also has beneficial as well as harmful effects.
The Bright side
By reviewing the good and beneficial results of GM crops, we must be convinced that production of GM crops can increase the annual income from crops to a high level. Benefits of GM crops include for instance high yield of some crops, pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, production of new and high quality varieties and many more.
In March 2007, a three day workshop was organized on “innovative aspects of Biotechnology and its better awareness and dissemination” by the collaboration of ISESCO, Comstech, Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (PABIC) and International Service of Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). The main objective of this workshop was to encourage media personals to write and disseminate importance and benefits of modern biotechnology especially GM crops. Dr Atta ur Rehman, the chairperson of Higher Education Commission explained the importance of Biotechnology in a Country’s development. Other renowned scientists were also present at the occasion.
Adapted from http://www.pakissan.com/english/advisory/biotechnology/why.not.gm.crops.shtml
Economic survey 2005-2006 showed the weak performance of agriculture because of the poor yield of two important crops; cotton and sugarcane. Pakistan’s yield per acre ranks below the average due to high costs of seed, fertilizers, and pesticides, low quality and less quantity of varieties of seeds, low level facilities of irrigation, pest attacks etc. Planning commission of Pakistan reported that Pakistan have to increase its crop yield according to the increasing growth of population.
In the past, before the arrival of modern Biotechnology, farmers had only one option to avoid pests, i.e. use of chemical pesticides. But now scientists and researchers have provided the option of GM crops which are genetically modified to have built-in pest resistance. Not only pest resistance crops have been produced but there are also such varieties which have ability to control the level of weeds in the agricultural land. The good thing is that Pakistan is adapting this technology from the past few decades.
Development of GM crops in Pakistan
Many institutions, government organizations and research centers are working on this aspect, for instance Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (PABIC), ISAAA, National commission of Biotechnology, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Department of Agriculture and Biotechnology of Pakistan Atomic energy commission (PAEC), and many others.
40 cases of laboratory manipulation, commercial production, and field trials of GM crops have been submitted by NIBGE to Pakistan Biosafety commission. “First Generation crops” include single gene introduction to develop pest resistance, virus control, resistance against abiotic stress such as salt, drought, and heat tolerance. One non-GM and two GM cotton varieties have been approved by National Biosafety commission. After this, second and this generation crops have been developed by the scientists and researchers of NIBGE. However third generation crops require high scientific expertise and is under process.
A new research station at Lasbella is working to increase cotton yield by controlling cotton leaf curl (CLCV) virus, in collaboration with Lasbella University of Agriculture Water and Marine Sciences.
Agriculture and Biotechnology department of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission have released approximately 85 varieties of GM crops
Table here shows the varieties released by different institutes working under PAEC.
The Dark Side
If we look at the dark side of GM crops, issues regarding health and environment come into account. Sometimes GM crops can be dangerous to health if the desired modification is reversed by some factors. Genetic modification sometimes may result into a crop variety which is more vulnerable to pests. But proper risk assessment precautions and careful use of techniques play a big role in minimizing the harmful effects to 0%.
On 7th April 2015, Minister of Climate Change, Mushahid ullah Khan stated that “Pakistan will not allow the commercialization of GM crops without a proper research and regulatory mechanism to ensure the safety of Citizens”
The minister also said that he believes that genetically modified food is a big cause of cancer and other health problems. The minister’s statement was correlated with the international health day commemorated on 7th April 2015. WHO (World Health Organization) is taking steps to eliminate the risks related to food security under the slogan “From farm to plate, make food safe”.
Conclusion
If I summarize the whole study, it can be manifested that GM crops have both good and bad aspects, but the good aspect is dominated because there is a solution of problems related to GM crops, but there is no replacement of benefits related to them. Scientists and researchers are working diligently to produce more and high quality varieties but they also need the support of the people and government to continue their work on high levels. People must be educated to realize the scope and importance of GM crops, and they must understand how biotechnology can increase the annual income of our country.
References:
- pakissan.com
- http://www.dawn.com/news/1174415
- http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0064879
- pabic.com.pk
- nibge.org
- http://www.paec.gov.pk
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