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Battle Over Modified Cotton Tearing at Pakistan
By Mudassir Rizvi, July 11, 2001, Pacific News Service

"Inconclusive" seems to be the kindest judgment of high-level talks between the heads of state of India and Pakistan this past weekend. One thing both countries share, however, is powerful, popular resistance to the introduction of genetically modified crops. PNS Commentator Muddassir Rizvi is a Pakistani journalist specializing in development issues.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- The American agribusiness giant Monsanto believes the future is in transgenic cotton in countries such as Pakistan.

But its attempt to coerce and coax the Pakistani government to allow the controversial varieties in this agrarian country has drawn hostility from food rights groups -- particularly with respect to "Bollgard" or "BT" cotton, which the company claims is environmentally safe and will prove lucrative for farmers.

The stakes are high. Cotton is Pakistan's major cash crop, accounting for 40 percent of its $10 billion foreign exchange earnings annually. Capturing the cotton seed market would effectively give Monsanto control of the country's economy.

The company is now trying to influence the country's position on the UN-sponsored Biosafety Protocol, which sets strict requirements for handling and use of genetically modified crops and foods, according to the Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (SAAG), a coalition of food rights and farmers organizations.

The protocol is part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which requires checks on transboundary movement of any living organism modified by modern biotechnology that may adversely affect biological diversity.

Pakistan is a party to CBD.

The first SAAG-arranged anti-Monsanto protest in Pakistan came in January, when government officials included Monsanto representatives in official consultations to develop the country's position on the protocol.

In lambasting the government for inviting Monsanto and other multinationals -- including Aventis and Novartis -- to the consultations, SAAG expressed its concern that the profit-oriented commercial sector would only undermine the farmers' interest in sustainable agriculture.

"We object to the government's decision to involve Monsanto in these important negotiations, especially when the company is lobbying with the government to allow commercial cultivation of its transgenic or BT cotton," said Mohammad Arshad of the Islamabad-based Network for Consumer Protection.

Field trials of this same cotton in India evoked sharp public criticism and action a year ago. Farmers there burned down trial farms, forcing the Indian government to ban Monsanto's controversial "terminator technology."

Although India has now approved BT cotton, stiff resistance remains and farming organizations say they will burn down fields where BT cotton is being grown.

Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva has called for a moratorium on all genetically engineered crops for at least five years, and her position is backed by food rights groups in Pakistan.

They have mounted protests against introducing transgenic crop varieties, fearing their impact on the environment and human health.

"Multinational agribusiness companies are eyeing the huge potential of our agricultural markets only to test their scientific innovations whose bio-safety impacts are still unknown," said Mushtaq Gadi, a food rights activist.

While Monsanto has publicly denied reports that it is planning to introduce transgenic cotton in Pakistan, A. Rehman Khan, managing director of Monsanto Pakistan Agritech, wrote to the government that "modern biotechnology is dramatically redefining pest management in U.S. cotton production.

"After a decade of research, transgenic, insect-resistant cotton varieties have been developed that enable the growers to use an in-built protection method as part of their integrated pest management program."

Rehman promised that if it were introduced, the new variety would increase profitability, reduce pollution and enhance quality of life.

Monsanto's BT cotton variety contains a gene obtained from an organism called Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) that has known insecticidal properties. The company claims this makes BT cotton resistant to major caterpillar pests.

But food rights activists say that country as a whole is best served if farmers are given more control over natural resources, rather than by helping foreign companies market products that have unknown impact.

But such protests fall on deaf ears, as the government seems to be fully convinced of the miracles of the global market economy.

In addition to indicating that it will allow corporate farming in the country, the government is moving on a fast track to introduce a law protecting plant breeders' "intellectual property rights agreement, a long-standing demand of transnational agribusiness companies."

The original draft of the proposed law contained a provision which would have required companies responsible for genetically modified or new transgenic varieties to pay compensation for hazards and damages to the environment and human health. Monsanto objected and the government removed that clause.

Currently, 307 national private seed companies, five multinationals, and three public sector seed agencies operate in Pakistan. Monsanto has already taken over Cargill's and Decok's seed companies in Pakistan, and many observers believe it will also acquire local companies that pose any competition after the Plant Breeders Rights law passes.


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