Why not GM Crops
By Ijaz Ahmad Rao _ Bahawalpur

Biotechnology has received far greater acceptance in the discipline of medicine, energy and industrial sector as compared to the field of food and agriculture; the main reason behind it is a lack of awareness of common man. That is why modern biotech industry is keep changing and redefining itself during the last two decades. The use of genetic engineering in agriculture is a complex issue that presents both potential benefits and risks to human society and the environment, with implications at the local and global levels. Today a heated global debate has erupted over the use of modern crop biotechnology; Government, journalists, communities and farmers in developing countries are deliberating about the same challenge as those in other countries.

Many are optimistic that plant biotechnology has come to stay, and will be a major technology of the future - potential benefits of it include improved crops that would be more nutritious, higher yielding, need less pesticides, resistant to weeds, and more environmentally sustainable while anti campaigners believes that such a technology may cause toxicity and allergenicity to human; that it can create super weeds while number of sprays to control pests on crops will increase extensively; In short crop biotechnology is harmful to our health, environment and economics rather safe and beneficial. This is the point where most of the journalists and a common man get confused and find hard to balance between the information coming from two different schools of thoughts. Moreover the discussion on the debate has largely influence by social, ethical, religious, scientific, political, economic, legal and cultural dimensions so it has become more complex for journalists to position itself on the scale - as a result of it scientists and journalists differed in their opinions about the quality of media coverage of agriculture biotechnology and biosafety, socioeconomic and ethical issues; however the main sufferer in this war are the farmers, technology developer and public who has been dragged on a bewilder and puzzle road; but many stakeholders still recognize and place great importance on the role of the media in shaping public perception of Biotech science and technology. In March a three days media workshop on “innovative aspects of Biotechnology and its better awareness and dissemination” was jointly organized by Comstech, ISESCO based in Tehran, Pakistan Biotechnology Information Centre (PABIC) as well as ISAAA. The main objective was to ensure that members of the media, especially those who have opportunity to write about agriculture biotechnology are well informed about advancements in modern biotechnology.

During the inauguration session Dr Attaur Rehman, the chairman of the higher education commission pointed out that progress in biotechnology is vital to a country’s development and urged media personnel to play their role in raising awareness about biotechnology. Prof. Atta lauded the efforts of Dr. Anwar Nasim, Chairman National Commission on Biotechnology and added private enterprises are also taking interest in this field and government welcomes their role in socio-economic development of the country. Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry, Dr. Mirachel Navaro, Dr. Abbas Sadri and other eminent scientists were also present on the occasion.

Pakistan has several good institutions currently working on various aspects of biotechnology. There are a number of universities; which offer various degrees in this discipline. However there is a serious lack of appreciation of biotechnology at the public and industrial levels. Coordination and exchange of information among institution and practitioners of biotechnology is less then adequate. Therefore there is a need of a resource center in Pakistan; which can serve as a hub to disseminate information, to support the collaborative efforts and to develop a network of institutions and Individuals working in this field; that’s why The Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (www.pabic.com.pk) has been established at Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Center, University of Karachi under the patronage of International Service for Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) and National Commission on Biotechnology. The initiative of the establishment of Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center is an attempt to initiate multidisciplinary research and enhance the awareness and appreciation of biotechnology at the local and international levels.

Modern plant biotechnology, unlike traditional crop technologies, changes the innate ability of crops through a technique called genetic engineering to improve its performance and endow it with new capabilities. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring soil bacterium that produces proteins active against certain insects

Modern biotechnology is exemplified by the much maligned genetically engineered Bt genes in crops like cotton, maize, soybean, canola etc; single or double gene transferred into the plants innate ability of a soil microbe to fight the destructive diseases and pests like bollworms, corn borer - saves farmers the cost of buying and applying a chemical pesticide and can increase nutrition and production.

According to our recent Economic Survey 2005-06 measuring from a high base of last year, the performance of agriculture has been weak - due to a relatively poor performance of two of the four major crops, namely cotton, sugarcane. One would like to list down some of the predicaments our crops are faced with, which is really a perturbing situation; Pakistan’s yield per acre ranks below the average in the world, high price of agriculture inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc, higher intensity of insects and pests attack, shortage of good quality and varieties of seeds, insufficient availability of water for irrigation. Additionally, the absence of a proper crop insurance system or any support system in the shape of subsidies by the government is resulting in frustration and lack of motivation in growers to spend resource in their fields in order to improve crop yields. At present, a major part of arable land is cultivated by small farmers, with 86 percent of total number of farms comprising less than 12.5 acres. The number of small farms is continuously increasing because of land division due to inheritance.

According to the study conducted by the Planning Commission - Pakistan will have to increase its national average agricultural yield to ensure food security for its growing population, which has increased to 156 million in 2006 from 34 million in 1947.

The world average yield of wheat is around 1100 kg per acre, while in Pakistan it is about 915 kg per acre; similarly national average rice yield is 1165 kg per acre against world’s average of 1585 kg per acre. In China and India, it is around 2535 kg and 1180 kg per acre, respectively. It is worth to remember that our potential for wheat yield ought to be over 38 million tons at an average yield of 1.85 tons per acre; we are annually losing about three billion US dollar due to wheat production inefficiencies. While rice production must rise to 6.5 million tons in 2010 from 4.2 million tons in 2006.
 
Similarly the average yield of maize in Pakistan is around 715 kg per acre against world’s average of 730 kg per acres; however maize average yield is 690 kg per acre in India and 2032 kg per acre in China. Similarly average cotton yield is around 755 kg per acre in Pakistan against world’s 725 kg per acre. Local demand from cotton and textile industry is increasing each year in Pakistan; so cotton lint output has been projected to increase to 21.5 million bales in 2015 from 12.4 million bales in 2006-07.

In fact before the arrival of modern crop biotechnology technology; farmers around the globe had only option of chemical pesticides as weapon to combat the major pests and to mange weeds in the field, but with the passage of time this methodology has became ineffective as many pests and weeds showed resistance against most of pesticides available in the market. With the introduction of GM crops, farmers have been able to manage their cotton crops in a very effective way because there is an in-built pest and weeds control mechanism created in the plant to control pests and weeds on time. Moreover it almost impossible and worthless to spry during rainy and windy period even if farmers know that their crops are under pests attack; however GM is the only solution to protect crops in the such circumstances due to its presence with in the plant life cycle.

It is worth knowing that in Pakistan, an estimated worth US$ 300 million of pesticides are being used in agriculture, of which more than 80 % is used on cotton especially to control Bollworm known as “Sunides”; use of pesticide has reached over 47,550 metric tons annually; due to indiscriminate use of toxic chemicals health of people living in the rural areas and environment have been affected badly on the same time water quality of these region has been found contaminated which is harmful for human and water echo system. Although Bt cotton also provides significant control of targeted bollworms but supplemental foliar insecticide sprays are occasionally required to keep other bollworms and sucking pests from causing excessive damage in Bt fields.

A review of the first decade of commercially grown GM crops, by UK-based consultants PGS Economics, has found large gains from reduced use of pesticides. Farmers used almost 224 million kilograms less pesticide with GM crops between 1996 and 2005 - a significant reduction.

To date, there has not been a single claim paid by an insurer for any injury, damage, expense, cost, loss or other legal obligation resulting from any defect or harm caused by use of an agricultural biotechnology product.

In 2006, 22 countries grew biotech crops, 11 developing countries and 11 industrial countries; like USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, China, Paraguay, South Africa, Uruguay, Philippines, Australia, Romania, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, France, Iran, Honduras, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, and Slovakia. The global biotech crop area continued to soar as the 250 millionth acre barrier was breached, when for the first time more than 10 million farmers in 22 countries. This unprecedented high adoption rate is testimony to the trust and confidence of millions of small and large farmers in crop biotechnology in both industrial and developing countries. (ISAAA)

According to World Health Organization; “Vitamin A deficiency affects 140 million children worldwide and causes 500,000 vitamin-A-deficient children to become blind every year, half of them dying within 12 months of losing their sight”. With its promise to combat vitamin A deficiency, Golden Rice was quickly identified and adopted – is a genetically modified rice which contains three genes that produce high levels of beta carotene (Beta carotene is contained in yellow fruits like carrots and mangoes and in vegetables like spinach). Beta-carotene is converted in the human body to the crucially needed vitamin A. Recently Monsanto has granted patent licenses at no charge to the developers of golden rice. Other crops, with other traits, are in various phases of discovery, engineering, testing and commercialization - Salt-resistant wheat, rice, sugarcane if successful, this would open up a vast amount of land currently unsuitable for its production. Similarly fruits may not seem as important as foods like corn, soy, wheat and rice in many countries but they are powerful economic engines for large numbers of people around the world like in Bangladesh after rice; papaya fruit crop has very important role in their daily diet; papaya ring-spot virus (PRSV) was threatening to devastate the Hawaiian papaya in 1990’s; a PRSV-resistant cultivar was developed in GM papaya and now successfully it has been grown there commercially since 1998.

Pakistan has large number of dedicated and highly qualified biotechnologist, genetics, virologists and plant breeding at well-known institutes like National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) and Nuclear Institute of Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) in Faisalabad, and National Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology (NCEMB) at Punjab University Lahore, Centre of Agriculture, Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad and Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Multan which have capacity to develop new crop breed and isolate and transform desire gene; significant amount of financial resources have been committed by the Government of Pakistan for developing genetically modified local cotton varieties.

So far public sector R&D centers, NIBGE and NCEMB have come forward and submitted applications to the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) - a directorate being established in the Ministry of Environment to allow them for commercialization and field trial of their versions of Bt Cotton. It is noteworthy that NCEMB has developed four Bt pesticidal genes used in cotton and rice against American bollworm and rice leaf-folder; and confined field trials of Bt basmati 370 rice were successfully carried out at different sites near Lahore.

According to unofficial estimates, in the year 2006-07, Bt cotton varieties have been grown at a shocking percentage. In Punjab, out of 5.60 millions acres of cotton crops, 0.23 million acres was reported as Bt cotton while in Sindh, out of 2.3 million acres of cotton crops, 0.29 millions acres were planted with transgenic cotton varieties; which means that last season Bt cotton varieties were grown on half a millions acres in Pakistan.

Moreover subject of Patents and intellectual property rights have created strong debate in the developing countries and even in United States and the European Union. That’s why this new or modern biotechnology has captured the attention of scientists, entrepreneurs, financiers, policymakers, governors, and the public in general and the pressure is on the journalists and media to illustrate factual data on this subject. In Pakistan, we are already facing negative consequence by not strengthening patents laws, due to which, the markets are flooded with adulterated pesticides, inferior seed quality, and poor quality of life saving drugs etc.

During the workshop international Biotech experts Dr. Claudia Canales, Dr. K M Nasiruddin, Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Dr. Ismail Aly M Abdel Hamid, Dr. Bambang Purwantara and Dr. Sarwar Gilani pointed out how positive and negative media coverage on a particular technology plays a very crucial role in public acceptance and emphasized that the issues related to biotech crops, e.g. the safety, the need, challenges, potential, and concerns should be discussed with journalists to enlighten them and to ensure that proper and balanced reporting can be carried out.

It is unfortunate many developing countries including Pakistan missed the opportunities during the Green Revolution; now farming methods of late 60’s are coming to an end due to water shortage, soil degradation, loss of seedling varieties and high input costs; while we are entering into a new phase where with very limited resources we have to deliver multiple benefits to different stakeholders. There is no single solution is likely to solve the our burgeoning problem in agriculture, food, energy, health and environment however there is hope that at least some of that solution will come by the adoption of modern crop biotechnology; as GM crops have significantly increased crops yields in many cases; are more environmental friendly - fewer use of pesticides and cause less soil erosion; can help small farmers to save more and combat poverty, because GM food are safer than conventional due to its careful evaluations at different levels by well-known institutes so why not our farmers must have a choice either to take GM crops side by side non GM?.