One outcome of the soaring food prices and global grain shortages has been least predictable. It is the relaxation in resistance by some countries towards the genetically modified crops and many opponents of this technology now feel compelled to accept it for economic reasons.

Japan and South Korea, for instance, have long been known to be paying extra money to consume conventionally grown corn. Now, they are buying genetically modified (GM) corn for use in soft drinks, snacks and other foods because corn prices have tripled in two years. The world over, biotechnology corporations, with the support of the US government, are taking advantage of the crisis to launch a huge offensive to promote hybrids and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and in some cases re-launch renewed initiatives where they had failed earlier.

What worries the opponents is inadequate research and knowledge about these crops which contain genes from other organisms, giving way to fears that they might pose risks to health and the environment. Europeans always resented GM foods calling them Frankenfoods. But now many are calling for faster approvals of imports of these foods and grains.

A similar situation is developing in Pakistan. A switch to GM rice, though being attempted, may not succeed as yet because Pakistan cannot afford to lose a vast market of Middle East and European Union where its traditional Basmati and Irri-6 varieties are popular. Nor conditions are ripe for an experiment on wheat.

Only cotton can be considered a candidate for such a switch-over. And at a time when the cotton output and the area under cultivation continues to slip every year, there could hardly be more opportune time for multinationals to convince the government to introduce Bt cotton to support the faltering textile industry.

On May 14, the ministry of agriculture signed a letter of intent (LoI) with Monsanto, an American firm, for introduction of the certified Bt cotton. An agreement is expected to be signed before the beginning of the next cotton season and then the company will introduce its insect-protection techonology called ‘Bollgard’ and insert its virus resistant gene into Pakistani varieties. This, however, the ministry is doing without adequately taking into confidence the farmers community about Bt cotton’s characteristics, its global record, benefits, failures and dangers. There has been no public debate in the media, nor was the matter raised in parliament. Instead, bureaucracy has mounted a unilateral initiative to change the mode of cotton cultivation.

There had been efforts in the past to cultivate Bt cotton in some areas illegally under an assumption that it would give much higher yield. In the year 2001-02, for instance, its cultivation was undertaken in the lower and upper Sindh areas from the seeds smuggled from India. The ministry of agriculture did not take notice of it. Two years’ observation of this transgenic variety, under the climatic conditions of upper Sindh, showed its performance was very erratic.

On February 14, 2007, the federal cabinet had approved in principle the draft bill of Plant Breeders Rights to meet the WTO obligation and protect genetically modified crops. The draft bill was deemed an obligation for Pakistan, being a member of the WTO under TRIPs Agreement. The bill was to be submitted to the parliament for approval which has not been done so far. The draft bill aimed at improving the quality of seed, bringing discipline to the seed industry and increasing investment in plant breeding both in private and public sector. The genetically modified varieties were to be sown after clearance from the National Biosafety Committee (NBC).

According to a recent unclassified report of US department of agriculture (USDA), Pakistan continues to ‘envision’ biotechnology as high priority area and has funded more than one billion rupees on research & development (R&D) in this sector through various ministries and Higher Education Commission (HEC). However, out of 28 centres claiming to be involved in biotechnology only three to five are capable of doing DNA recombination research of GM crops. Target crops are cotton, wheat, sugarcane, tomato, canola and potato and traits are virus resistance, insect resistance, salt tolerance, drought tolerance and male sterility for hybrid seed development.

Finding the climate favourable, many multinational companies are gearing up to formally submit cases for approval to the NBC for hybrid transgenic crops, as they expect that very soon GM crops will be allowed to be grown in Pakistan.

Pakistan, at present, is producing small quantities of a variety of biotech crops, but none have been commercialised despite the issuance of National Biosafety Guidelines in April 2005. The National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) had also submitted an application to the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) for the approval of a GM cotton variety.

Meanwhile, work on GM rice was undertaken with funds from the Rockefeller Foundation but it is not being encouraged by the government. Biotech research has also been undertaken on indigenous crops like potato, chilies, peppers and melons. According to the USDA report, Pakistan is importing GM soybeans, soybean oil and other processed food products from the United States and other countries.

Although the GM industry has been claiming huge benefits for many years, none of them have come to fruition. For example, an April 2006 report of the USDA stated that “currently available GM crops do not increase the yield potential of a hybrid variety. […] In fact, yield may even decrease if the varieties used to carry the herbicide tolerant or insect-resistant genes are not the highest yielding cultivars”.

In a recent study of 481 cotton farmers in five provinces of China, researchers from Cornell University found that the early income gains that Chinese cotton farmers had achieved with Bt cotton during the 2000–2001 season had completely disappeared three years later.

What had happened was that, in the initial years, with Bt cotton controlling bollworms, the area’s major pest, farmers cut back on their use of broad-spectrum pesticides, thereby reducing their costs and improving their incomes. But with the Bt cotton providing no control over secondary pests, these soon took the place of bollworms.