- Monsanto’s seeds produce toxins known to kill bee populations
Last year, Punjab failed to meet its target by 2 million bales in the cotton production. Following that, the government is once again in negotiations with Monsanto, a company which develops genetically modified seeds, hoping to see a higher production in the province.
It is being said that the company is ready to sell its GM technology for a heavy sum which will then allow local seed producers to use the technology for their seeds. About 95 percent of Pakistan’s cotton crops use GM cotton with Bt toxins, which have built-in toxins against bollworms.
History of Monsanto and Pakistan
Pakistan has been using Monsanto’s seeds since 2002. Back then, the company did not seek patent protection when it started selling seeds in Pakistan. Soon after, local seed makers started copying the company’s Bt technology.
Instead of giving Pakistan’s cotton production a boost, the use of those seeds resulted in a failure to meet expected cotton production targets as the seed producers used low-quality seeds as toxin carriers.
Given this scenario, it is to be noted that Pakistani seed producers do not have to pass any regulatory control and it’s mostly done informally without any sort of supervision. Hence, even though Monsanto’s seeds could have brought some benefits, the agricultural sector ended up with continuously deteriorating production.
Low germination and low-quality seeds have hurt cotton production during the most part of the past decade. Another issue is that bollworms have developed immunity to the Bt toxins, mostly because of the low-toxin expressing seeds. So not only was the production hurt by low-quality seeds, farmers now have to use regular pesticides to get rid of the bollworms.
Monsanto’s New Seeds
Monsanto aims to solve the current issues in Pakistan by using its second generation GM cotton seeds often referred to as Bollgard II (BG II) which produce two toxins against bollworms instead of one.
However, it is expected that bollworms will eventually develop resistance to both toxins and second generation technology will become useless as well within 8 to 10 years. However, they are a good solution for the time being.
Punjab Government and Monsanto Negotiations
Currently, Punjab government and Monsanto are in negotiations regarding the BG II and RRf seeds. Monsanto is reluctant to offer seeds in Pakistan fearing that the government doesn’t have the necessary control to prevent local seed makers from violating the patents and copying Monsanto’s products.
The company has, however, put forward a solution. It wants a hefty sum to be paid as technology fee if the government wants the local seed makers to produce BG II and RRF seeds.
Government’s Lack of Understanding
It is being reported that the government is ready to pay the heavy sum without any knowledge of the consequences. There have been several reports of Monsanto’s seeds not performing as promised by the company all around the world. Secondly, Pakistan has already witnessed that unregulated seed makers have hurt the agricultural production more than what bollworms could have managed on their own.
Government’s Lack of Vision
Another point to consider is that Monsanto’s patents are due to expire in 2021 and 2023 and it takes at least 2 to 3 years for the implementation of a new technology into the seeds. So even if the technology is bought today, it would be free for use, or patents would be near expiry by the time the seeds are ready.
Another aspect is that instead of focusing on the improvement of NARC (National Agricultural Research Centre) the government has been cutting its funds, workforce and even the land it owns. Recently, it was reported that the land owned by NARC was being taken over by a housing society.
Monsanto’s Seeds and Bees
Since Monsanto’s seeds produce toxins, they are known to kill bee populations. These are the very bees which pollinate all plants everywhere in the world and produce honey. GM seeds are hazardous to bees and widescale use of Monsanto’s seeds could mean a drastic danger to the environment and honey production in a country.
Final Words
The government has at least two tasks at hand which need to be implemented as soon as possible. Instead of paying for the Monsanto seeds, the government should ask for a lease for these seeds until the expiration of the patents.
It would need to be ensured that unlicensed companies do not copy the BG II and RRF seeds. And if the Monsanto and Punjab government negotiations fail, there’s the option of going for locally available alternatives.
Seed quality standards and proper legislature on genetically modified seeds also need to be introduced by the government. If the situation really does get out of hand, these genetic seeds could end up killing all organic plantation around them.
As far as Monsanto is concerned, perhaps the government needs to put some specialists to do some research on why the company is called the “most evil company on earth” in America and why GM seeds have been protested against for decades now.
Courtesy: propakistani
