Most stakeholders oppose introduction of GMO corn seed

LAHORE: All the major stakeholders of agriculture sector including farmers, food processors, national seed companies etc have squarely opposed introduction of GMO seeds in the country on commercial basis, leaving manufacturers of GMO corn seed and a few public sector scientists isolated.

The unprecedented near-consensus among the participants of consultative process against GMO maize emerged in three separate sessions held over a month following involvement of Prime Minister Secretariat in regulatory affairs of GMO corn.

A delegation of American Business Council of Pakistan met PM Imran Khan on February 7, 2019 to express apprehension over non-supportive role of Ministry of National Food Security and Research in this connection.

The 1st consultative meeting on commercial cultivation of GMO maize was held on February 20, 2019 with representatives of Seed Association of Pakistan (SAP), Pakistan Kissan Ithad (PKI) and Rafhan Maize Products, the biggest processor and exporter of corn products in the country.

The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan, federal minister, national food security and research, while Dr Muhammad Hashim Popalzai, secretary, national food security moderated the deliberations.

The SAP representative sternly opposed commercialisation of GMO maize in Pakistan, claiming that there has been no significant yield advantage in cultivation of said technology, while GMO technology does not offer lower cost of production.

He also stressed that there was no existential pest threat in the country on maize crop that necessitates introduction of new technology.

He further added that GMO was the most controversial technology in the world and most of the countries have not allowed its cultivation. He further explained that maize was a highly cross-pollinated crop, and GMO maize would contaminate indigenous germplasm as a result of an irreversible process. He said after a few years, local corn varieties could completely get contaminated due to threat of cross pollination.

Khalid Khokar, president, PKI, also showed his concern on commercial cultivation of GMO maize. According to him, there should not be any compromise on the heath issues of Pakistani people.

He urged Ministry of National Food Security and Research to constitute a committee of technical persons to overcome the issue.

Dr Khalid Aziz, representative from Rafhan Maize Product, briefed the house that his company has the honour of introducing and sustainably supporting Spring Maize segment in the country. Increasing demand from Rafhan and poultry has been the major driving force behind maize success in Pakistan.

He made it clear that not only Rafhan’s, but other companies survived solely on the availability of non-GMO maize.

“Since, Pakistan’s landscape does not permit the segregation of non-GMO maize, hence, its local availability will be constrained; compelling us to go for import which will further stress the country’s already dwindling foreign reserves,” he added.

Moreover, exclusion of a single largest buyer (Rafhan) from the market would negatively affect the sentiments of local markets.

Ministry of National Food Security and Research secretary said it was a question for his ministry why permission should be granted for cultivation of GMO maize on commercial scale if there was no significant yield increase and no reduction in cost of production and import. “This introduction may result in enhancement of import bill and also our exports may suffer,” he observed.

The 2nd meeting with official stakeholders was held on February 25 under the chairmanship of Ministry of National Food Security secretary. The representative from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government also opposed the commercial cultivation of GMO maize.

Representative from Agriculture University of Faisalabad emphasised that GMO maize could be allowed only to institutes for research purpose, and there was no need to allow commercial cultivation, as no significant yield increase was reported even in the US.

DG Federal Seed Certification (FSC&RD) warned that after the permission of commercial cultivation of GM maize, import bill would increase up to Rs6 billion for the import of GMO maize seed whereas; export of Pakistani products would also shrink and become limited from global canvas.

Chairman, PARC referred to the Cartagena Protocol, asking to allow commercial cultivation of GM maize. He said that to address its hazardous aspect, member states were obliged to develop Bio-safety Clearance House (BHC) to facilitate the exchange of scientific, technical, environmental and legal information on the experience of GMO.

“We are using so many products of multinational companies, then why are we reluctant to adopt GMO technology,” he asked.

NARC Director General emphasised that bio safety analysis of imported technology should be conducted locally, and there was no study available that identified that GMO was harmful for human health. He expressed his concern regarding soil and soil water contamination with the decomposition of GMO plant debris, as the farmers normally rotavate the corn plants in the soil to increase organic matter.

Therefore, its impacts might also come on birds, insects and soil.

Representative of NIBGI, told the house that there was no objection on GMO technology. However, there were some severe reservations to adopt this technology for the maize crop.

After deliberations, the chair concluded that new technology should be adopted, subject to assessment on crop to crop basis. Commercialisation of GMO maize was much controversial and further deliberations were required to address all issues and challenges, as highlighted by the stakeholders.

The third and the last consultative meeting in this regard was convened with Crop-Life Pakistan, a platform of multinational seed companies under the chairmanship of federal minister, national food security on February 25, 2019.

Dr Asim from Crop life of Pakistan in his presentation briefed the house that 80 percent of maize was hybrid. Local seed companies have most of their business in autumn crop, whereas multinational companies (MNCs) business was in spring crop.

He further informed that MNCs spent $136 million in 13 years to establish biotechnology in Pakistan. He claimed all GMO technology was safe from all aspects, while citing studies conducted in US and Canada. “There is no harm to introduce it in Pakistan,” he said, adding the cost of production would be reduced by the introduction of GMO technology, which would be environment friendly.

He claimed that more than 50 countries have allowed GMO technology for cultivation or consumption. He recognised that there was no mechanism in Pakistan to safeguard the contamination of non-GMO maize, but it could be managed through different procedures.