AGRICULTURE
A drive to challenge the newly passed Seed Amendment Act 2015 is taking momentum in Sindh, as conscious farmers express concerns over the move, which they believe will have long-term effects on local sources of livelihoods, environment, and may cause loss of biodiversity on a larger scale.
The document designed by a group of farmers from Dadu district pleads that if indigenous seed varieties are replaced, water consumption will increase, and they were already facing water shortage. These farmers are preserving indigenous seeds, and claim these traditional varieties are valuable and must be promoted.
They claim the act will allow foreign companies to establish their monopoly on the seed business in Pakistan. Although the government has claimed that this act will regularise the seed business, farmers and civil society organisations have declared it against the interests of communities.
"It is worth accepting that by employing these seeds, the production can be increased, but the policy makers do not bring this in their minds that these particular seeds require more water, and the country is falling in water dearth countries and farming communities are already experiencing poor condition of water in Sindh especially and Pakistan generally," the document reads.
Since the sale of hybrid seeds has been regularised through the act, farmers fear their dependence on company dealers to buy seeds will increase. For now the farmers save seeds for the next crop.
Agriculture scientist Karam Ali Khan Kaleri, who has already produced some popular high yielding wheat varieties, said, "When we purchase seeds from China, Australia and America and spend more money, why can we not conduct studies to promote local varieties for our own use."
Kaleri has produced seed varieties like TD-1, TJ 83, Anmole, Abadgar, Mehran 89, and others. Out of these, TD-1 and TJ 83 seed varieties are the most popular and being cultivated on 30 million acres of land in Pakistan. He claims these high yielding wheat varieties give more than 100 maunds per acre on some fields.
“People sitting in research institutes have been taught that local wheat varieties yield only 15-18 maunds per acre, which cannot meet the demand,” he said, and asked how the local varieties could be dismissed without testing. He blamed water shortage and poor cultivation practices for low yield and land degradation. He urged the government and community both to also work on the restoration of land fertility.
Prof M Ismail Kumbhar of Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, said, “Many multinational companies have introduced various varieties of the crops especially in rice, maize and cotton.” He quoted some examples of GMO foods, and said chicken were vaccinated to increase body mass, while food colours and artificial flavours were added in fruits and vegetables, such as tomato, watermelons, and okra for maximum profits.
He said that Pakistan’s economy depends heavily on agriculture and majority of the farmers are using BT Cotton, BT Rice and BT Maize for getting high yield, but there is no checks and balance. He pointed out that GMOs also cause allergic reactions in humans as some components of microorganisms are untested for use.
“This is the job of research institutes to find out the cause and suggest solutions to save the national economy, human health and biodiversity, which are under threats of the newly emerging actions,” he added.
He lamented the lack of research on local seed varieties, which could help improve yield without excess chemical use and water consumption. He said proper research on seed varieties was declining in government research institutes, and employed officials were unable to produce any variety, specifically food crops to save money, for which the government spends a huge amount annually.
Money Matters contacted different growers, who said no local seed varieties were available in the market, which was not the practice long ago. Hence, they bought new wheat seeds, which required chemical fertilisers and pesticides. In some cases, they purchased hybrid seeds of chilli, rice and cotton, which were bogus because there was no check and balance on dealers. In this situation, growers lost money and the seeds did not grow.
They also realised the damage such seeds inflict on biodiversity, soil fertility, and human health. They also claimed there have been no government efforts in terms of soil rehabilitation and environmental protection.
Dadu Farmers Network, associated with Basic Development Foundation, led by farmers Ghulam Qadir Rustamani, Zulfiqar Jatoi, Haq Nawaz Khushk and others, pleaded that for many centuries, growers of this region, including Sindh have been selecting healthy seeds from their crops to preserve for next seasons.
These farmers also exchanged such preserved seeds with each other. However, in the amended bill, without legal proceedings, preservation or exchange of seeds with fellow farmers was a legal crime, which could cause problems for growers and farmers.
Besides, in the category of genetically modified (GM) seeds there were certain hybrid seeds which performed les.
Recalling the past, Ghulam Qadir Rustamani, a farmer leader, said their elders had been using cost effective indigenous agricultural inputs like farmyard manure, bullocks and indigenous seeds.
The farmers said two-and-a-half decades ago poor statistics forced the government to allow some foreign firms, producing high-yielding varieties and chemical inputs, to access the agrarian communities. These companies in their early days sold the agricultural inputs and seeds at reduced rates or almost on zero cost to grab the market. They claimed that now the bill would facilitate these same companies to exploit the market.
Attractively designed advertisements run by companies coerced the users to increase volume or quantity of chemical inputs to have bumper crops. This spread the ideology of “do more” among the farmers. Since the extensive use of chemicals has increased and was even enforced, the farmers have now become victims of fertilisers and pesticides which have polluted the environment and also created several issues related to human and animal health.
Elderly farmers said, "If we visualise the situation in our country three decades ago, we think of a sound natural environment where small farmers and all members of their families had butter, milk, eggs, and earthenware filled with grains and indigenous seeds. All of the farmers and tenant peasants cooperated and our society was comparatively peaceful."
They regret that the situation was not the same any more.
According to an estimate, only 10 percent of the required quantity of certified seeds was available in Pakistan. It reflected that there was shortage of experts, skilled human resource, and machinery, in seed producing public bodies.
After the amendments in the act, the foreign firms would bring seeds from outside, and after certification, not only would they sell the seeds in the Pakistani market, they would gain control of almost 90 percent of the seed trade. Since the national institutes were not capable to compete with foreign firms, the local seeds and competitors would be driven out of the market.
Hence the chances of hegemony of foreign companies on seeds would increase manifold. Resultantly, it would also override the autonomy of growers and farmers.
This would deprive the farmers of their decision-making powers, especially about crop selection, and they would be only able to cultivate seeds which the companies provided them with, the farmers said.
The writer is a staff member
