Pakistan inches towards Bt cotton

After dithering over the issue of genetically modified insect-resistant Bt cotton for several years, the Pakistan government seems to be taking a few positive steps. In a report submitted at the plenary session of the International Cotton Advisory Committee in Turkey in October, the Pakistani delegation emphasised the government's favourable attitude towards the introduction of Bt cotton.

 

The Pakistan National Institute of Biology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) and the Centre of Excellence for Molecular Biology (CEMB) have incorporated a Bt gene in approved commercial varieties of cotton. The NIBGE has developed two Bt cotton varieties: IR-FH-901 and IR-FH-1000. A strategy has been finalised to regulate the release of GM plant varieties, including Bt cotton. According to a report in Pakistani newspaper Daily Times, the national government has created a committee to prepare a framework for the introduction of Bt cotton.

 

The Pakistan government enacted the Pakistan Biosafety Rules for the regulation of GMOs in April 2005. It was expected that the commercialisation of GM cotton lines developed by the NIBGE would soon follow. However, expectations of the introduction of Bt cotton in 2006 and then in 2007 were not met. Unwilling to wait for government sanction, farmers in the states of Sindh and Punjab cultivated illegally obtained Bt cotton on an area of around 500,000 acres (202,000 ha) last year. Cotton was sown in an area of 3.1 million ha in Pakistan this year. Sindh and Punjab accounted for 98.5% of the area.