Uncertified transgenic seeds being sold without any check

By Shahzad Anwar

Published: December 14, 2016

ISLAMABAD: Transgenic seeds are increasingly being marketed in Pakistan without any assessment of their impact on environment, human health and animals required under the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity as regulations remain weak and infrastructure does not exist in the country.

Most of the genetically modified (GM) seed varieties are available in the domestic market beyond the knowledge of relevant government departments and in connivance with some scientists, bureaucrats, politicians, big farmers and seed suppliers.

“GM seeds could be used as a biological weapon against Pakistan’s strategic cash crops,” a former director of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) told The Express Tribune.

“The introduction of uncertified GM seeds is aimed at saying goodbye to our indigenous varieties that cope well with the effects of environmental degradation and climate change,” he said.

“The local market is being flooded with uncertified transgenic seeds of cauliflower, cabbage, tomato and other vegetables mainly from India and China under the Truth and Labelling Rules 1991, which does not require declaration of the seed trail,” Dr Shahida Wizarat, Head of Economics Department, Institute of Business Management, said.

During a visit to Quetta last year, she found an NGO distributing saplings of GM apple plants among locals without their knowledge.

“At present, there is no national biosafety centre, prompting the need to build capacity of institutions and regulatory bodies for proper inspection of GM seeds,” former Pak-EPA director general Asif Shuja Khan said.

He insisted that seeds had a great link with the economy, public health and environment of any region and Pakistan was a signatory of the Cartagena Protocol, a legal document that ensured the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity.

Unfortunately, he said, people working in regulatory bodies had connections with multinational seed companies or they had their own GM seed business.

“The government should pick neutral experts for the regulatory bodies who have no financial concern or stake in the seed business,” Khan suggested and said labelling was another important factor that was missing on imported seed varieties.

He feared that mis-declaration and unregulated flow of GM organisms (GMOs) would destroy biodiversity and could hamper Pakistan’s exports.

He recalled that Pak-EPA had started a biosafety project in 2005, which continued till 2014. After the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the subject was devolved to provinces and since then there had been no institution to regulate the sale of GMOs at federal or provincial levels.

However, he decried that laws were hastily passed to protect the interest of multinational seed companies and cited the example of recently passed Plant Breeders’ Rights Bill 2016 in the Senate.

The National Biosafety Committee admitted in its meeting that some foreign aid agencies were providing different seed varieties in universities and research institutes in Pakistan without the committee’s approval.

“The country lacks expertise in the testing of transgenic seeds and it also does not have seed testing labs even in the seed certification department,” Dr Faheem, a professor of Peshawar University’s biotechnology department, said.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said, many GM seeds were being imported for corn and other varieties without any field trial.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2016.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1262277/uncertified-transgenic-seeds-sold-without-check/

PUNJAB PLANS TO BUY MORE GM COTTON SEED VARIETIES

Dawn, December 15th, 2016

Faisal Ali Ghumman

LAHORE: Despite perceived failure of genetically modified (GM) cotton seed experience in Pakistan and official reports confirming the presence of advanced varieties of bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton seed in use, the Punjab government is reportedly planning to acquire two more advanced varieties from a multinational GM technology provider.

The agriculture department held a meeting this week to discuss an update on the negotiations with the GM technology provider and muster support of stakeholders in favour of imported varieties of Bt gene. The meeting — attended by officials, researchers, academia, growers, textile producers and seed companies — was a follow-up of a previous meeting held last month to discuss acquisition of advance gene technologies and related issues.

Sources said the agriculture department was planning to buy Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex (RRF) genes from Monsanto under the Kissan Package 2016-17, apparently for better seed quality resisting pests and weed controls amid serious reservations by agriculture scientists and cotton growers.

They said both genes were already in use in cotton seed as they were tested positive in the government laboratory reports conducted by the Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute (ABRI), Faisalabad, in 2012.

The ABRI confirmed the presence of both traits when some seed companies and government research institutes sent their Bt cotton seed samples for the National Coordinated Varietal Trials (NCVT) nationwide, sources said quoting a report.

According to a government report issued in March 2014 and published in the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) of the Uni­ted States, Pakistan has adopted transgenic cotton (Bollguard II) over the area of about 86pc.

As per minutes of the first meeting available with Dawn, Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) CEO Noorul Islam gave an overview of the negotiations agreement with Monsanto to harness its cotton GM technology (bollworm and weed control) and efforts of the Punjab government to transform local seed industry into a vibrant one.

It was decided an agreement with Monsanto would be made to get the required cotton gene technology on a long-term basis and acquire bollguard II–RRF gene technology, advance gene technology such as bollguard III and IV and lygus control gene technology for sucking pests. The agreement, if signed, will also include long-term partnership to transform local seed industry with reform project to strengthening six private seed companies and the Punjab Seed Corporation.

The chair was of the view that Monsanto’s do­uble gene and weed control technology has been extensively tested for biosafety in other parts of the world. Therefore, it should be given exempt status by the Ministry of Climate Change. Monsanto should share the biosafety data used in other countries for biosafety clearance and file the case with the ministry.

“We must provide advance lines which have good combination of heat, cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV) and drought tolerance along with good fibre traits,” the minutes quoted the scientists as having agreed.

Punjab Agriculture Department’s Director General Research Dr Abid Mehmood, who was one of the participants of the meeting, said nothing is final to get latest gene technology as stakeholders of the meeting only deliberated upon whether imported GM technology should be welcomed or indigenous varieties should be introduced for improving cotton production.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1302383/punjab-plans-to-buy-more-gm-cotton-seed-varieties

‘60PC KHAIRPUR SEZ PLOTS SOLD TO CHINESE’

Dawn, December 14th, 2016

Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana

KARACHI: Sixty per cent of industrial plots at the Khairpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ), now said to be a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), have been sold to Chinese investors, Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Manzoor Hussain Wassan disclosed on Tuesday.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the minister said the special industrial zones in Larkana and Mohanjedaro are expected to be inaugurated in January 2017. The two zones, spread over 500 acres, have also been linked to the CPEC, he added.

Similarly, Dhabejee, Karachi Circular Railways, Zulfikarabad Industrial Estate and Marble City have become part of the CPEC, he added.

He acknowledged that some industrial zones in interior Sindh collapsed. He proposed to set up a committee to monitor the rehabilitation of five industrial areas of the city.

The minister said the Sindh government was ready to cooperate with business community to promote industrialisation.

Referring to his recent visit to Korangi Industrial Area, he said he pressed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to use funds one billion rupees allocated for the purpose.

He sought FPCCI’s help in completing documents to access the said amount for the uplift of industrial areas before June 2017.

He further said the Sindh government has already allocated funds in its Annual Development Plan (ADP) for the SITE Superhighway and assured that all encroachments along the route would be removed.

The provincial minister went on to warn the business community to bring back funds parked in Middle East banks, stressing that there was a danger of accounts getting blocked.

The emerging conditions in US and Europe for Muslims might prompt Pakistanis to return to Karachi that offers many opportunities, Mr Wassan claimed.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1302172/60pc-khairpur-sez-plots-sold-to-chinese

RESEARCHERS AIM TO SAVE COTTON FROM CURL VIRUS USING WHEAT

Dawn, December 14th, 2016

Amin Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: Agricultural scientists are working on a technology that will allow farmers to grow wheat and cotton together in the same field with a view to save the latter from the cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV), said Dr Abdul Majid, Country Manager of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) on Tuesday.

Sharing results of three years of research at the US Embassy, he said the technology has proved to be successful but a couple of years are needed for its application, including development of machinery for the inter-cropping.

The research was carried out under the $4.5 million USDA-funded ‘Cotton Productivity Enhancement Programme’ (CPEP) with the objective to develop an intercropping system that allows cotton to be planted early by sowing it directly into standing wheat. This allows the cotton to be more mature and better able to withstand CLCuV.

Explaining the technology, he said intercropping can begin a month earlier with last irrigation of the wheat crop. This early plantation of cotton into standing wheat crop would bring a change in the geometry of the two crops, raising income of farmers by saving water for irrigation and better cotton crop, he added.

When questioned about the possible loss of wheat as a result of inter-cropping, Dr Majid said 10-11 per cent wheat could be lost but there will be a gain of over 30pc to the farmer.

The new technology will be applied initially in Punjab where wheat sowing season starts after mid-November and harvesting begins after mid-May.

It was also shared that under the CPEP, 5,000 accessions of cotton germplasm imported from the United States have been screened at cotton growing areas of Multan, Faisalabad, Vehari and Sakrand against CLCuV. Out of these, 63 accessions have so far been declared as resistant and highly tolerant to CLCuV.

The CPEP is aimed at minimising the adverse effects of chronic and lethal cotton leaf curl virus disease, its scientific studies and development of genetically resistant varieties using both conventional and non-conventional techniques through highly coordinated approaches at national and international levels.

Cotton Specialist at the US Department of Agriculture, Jodi Scheffler said plant breeders have been successful in their mission, and within the next few years, results will be ready to be implemented at farm level, she said.

“In Pakistan, she said, research management to get disease resistant varieties is good and based on experience of practices and diagnostic tests. We consider Pakistani scientists to be world experts,” she said.

Director-General of National Agricultural Research Centre, Dr Muhammad Azeem said that by utilising virus resistant USDA accessions, breeders at the federal and provincial institutions have developed resistant and highly tolerant lines.

“These tolerant lines will be included in preliminary yield trials next year,”

http://www.dawn.com/news/1302168/researchers-aim-to-save-cotton-from-curl-virus-using-wheat

FOREIGN FIRMS BEING INVITED TO OVERCOME COTTON SEED SHORTAGE

Business Recorder, 30 November 2016

Tahir Amin

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to invite foreign seed companies to overcome cotton seed shortage and increase yield after getting legal protection through proposed “Plant Breeders’ Right Bill.”

The Senate last week passed the ‘Plant Breeders’ Right Bill’ and with the adoption of the bill by both Houses of the Parliament, it will become Plant Breeders’ Rights Act of 2016 after the President’s assent. The development of new plant varieties and the rights of their breeders have been protected for the first time in Pakistan under the proposed legislation.

The Plant Breeder Right Act has been remained pending for the last 11 years. In the absence of this legislation, dealers/companies had no legal protection. Only first generation of BT cotton is available in the country, while the second and the third generations are yet to be made available. However, officials said that proposed legislation would provide level playing field; thus encouraging seed companies to develop the latest cotton seed in the country.

Secretary Ministry of Textile Industry Hassan Iqbal on Tuesday chaired a meeting on cotton seed issue which was attended by Secretary Punjab Agriculture department and director generals of other provinces to finalise modus operandi for inviting foreign companies including Monsanto to overcome certified cotton seed shortage.

Director General Federal Seed certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) briefed the meeting on availability and issues related to seed.

The Secretary Punjab briefed the House about various activities undertaken by the department for bringing discipline in Agriculture and Seed industry in the province. Federal Secretary appreciated the activities of Punjab government and expressed all possible support to Punjab government and private sector for strengthening of cotton sector.

Chairman Seed Association of Pakistan (SAP) Chaudhry Asif Ali raised some concerns over plans of Punjab government while both parties were advised by the Chair to interact in detail and develop consensus on various issues.

Currently, around 50 percent carried seed was available in the country which was not meeting the requirement and negatively affecting cotton production, a senior official revealed to Business Recorder here on Tuesday. The participants also decided that foreign companies would be allowed only to provide genes while seed would be developed locally.

The official said the proposed legislation would encourage plant breeders and seed organisations of both public and private sectors to invest in research and plant breeding; development of superior varieties of field, vegetable and ornamental crops; and facilitate access to protected foreign varieties and new technologies.

Currently, only Bollgard-I is available in Pakistan, however the move would help in introducing Bollgard-II and Roundup Ready Flux (RRF).

The sources further said that Ministry of Climate Change officials assured the participants that all the pending issues before the National Bio-safety Committee (NBC) regarding Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) would be resolved soon.

http://epaper.brecorder.com/2016/11/30/7-page/823818-news.html

 

MONSANTO PAKISTAN INTRODUCES BIO-TECH SEED

The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2016.

LAHORE: More than 500 corn-farmers from across Punjab attended the field trial and demonstration event organised by Monsanto Pakistan at their field research facility located at Manga Mandi near Lahore.

The event showcased Monsanto’s latest bio-tech corn seed technology together with high performance hybrid seed products, with the objective of educating famers on Monsanto’s latest products and technology.

The occasion also included an exhibition space for various vendors and businesses related to the agriculture sector, including agriculture implements manufacturers, on-farm solar energy solution providers, fertilisers and agri finance institutions.

Briefing the visitors, Shariq Bokhari, Sales Effectiveness Lead – Asia & Africa at Monsanto Pakistan, explained that the new bio-tech seed had the potential to increase the yield of corn crop by an additional 5-10% through mitigation of yield losses incurred on account of weed and insect attacks.

Farmers attending the event received detailed briefings and practical demonstrations of the new seed technology. Many of the farmers showed excitement at the prospect of a new and technologically advanced seed and urged the introduction of the new bio-tech corn at the earliest.

Explaining the features of the to-be-launched bio-tech corn products, Monsanto’s Regulatory Affairs Lead Muhammad Asim said, “the bio-tech seed has special features that enable better yield assurance through protection against weeds and pests, resulting in enhanced livelihood of farming communities.”

Asim confirmed that the new bio-tech corn received approval in February 2016 for commercialisation from the Federal Ministry of Climate Change and currently permission of hybrids with the modern technology is awaited for commercial import from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

He explained that all other regulatory requirements had been fulfilled after having initiated the very first trials in 2009 and subsequent submission of commercialisation application in 2011. It is expected that the new product will be commercially available soon.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1244503/new-techniques-monsanto-pakistan-introduces-bio-tech-seed/

SENATE CLEARS PLANT BREEDERS’ BILL

Dawn, November 25th, 2016

Amin Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: The development of new plant varieties and the rights of their breeders have been protected for the first time in Pakistan with the adoption of the ‘Plant Breeders’ Right Bill’ by the Senate on Wednesday.

The new law will encourage plant breeders and seed organisations of both public and private sectors to invest in research and plant breeding; development of superior varieties of field, vegetable and ornamental crops; and facilitate access to protected foreign varieties and new technologies.

With the adoption of the bill by both houses of parliament, it will become Plant Breeders’ Rights Act of 2016 after president’s assent, which is largely a formality.

Establishment of a viable seed industry is essential to the food security in Pakistan to ensure the availability of high-quality seeds and planting material to the farmers. It is necessary to make provisions for developing the breeding of new plant varieties, protecting the rights of their breeders and providing exemptions to them.

To comply with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, the government has already introduced several laws in the field of intellectual property, incl­uding patents, trademarks, copyright and industrial des­igns. Under the agreement, Pakistan is also required to provide intellectual property rights to the breeders of new plant varieties.

The new act will facilitate access to protected foreign varieties and new technologies; creating healthy competition for variety development among public and private sector organisations; facilitate in generating revenues for research institutes and financial incentives for plant breeders; and effectively control menace of counterfeiting in the seed sector for betterment of farmer community and food security in the country.

Under the act, the federal government will establish the ‘Plant Breeders’ Rights Registry’ under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to facilitate protection of new plant varieties and issue certificates.

A plant variety protection advisory committee will also be established with members from the public and private sectors to advise the ministry of the registry on scientific and technical issues.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1298445/senate-clears-plant-breeders-bill

Reaping the Rice Harvest through Indigenous Method

The pictures show the recent rice harvest obtained from the Roots for Equity 3.5 acre trial farm in Multan. The 13 local and traditional rice varieties, collected from farmers in different parts of Sindh and Punjab were grown employing traditional methods. Rice was harvested in one week with the help of six women farmers. Threshing was carried out manually and then the next step was of ensuring that all varieties were stored separately in labeled bags. Each bag was weighed as well to estimate the production of each variety.picture7

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FATAL SHORT CIRCUIT: THREE WORKERS BURNT ALIVE IN GARMENT FACTORY FIRE

Express Tribune, November 11th, 2016.

Muhammad Shahzad

Lahore: In yet another case of a fire in Lahore, three workers were burnt alive inside a garment factory in Shafiqabad on Thursday.

The fatal accident once again exposes the authorities’ failure to implement building and safety protocols in the provincial capital.

The blaze erupted due to short-circuit early in the morning when the factory workers had just arrived at Ashraf Garments, a manufacturing unit set up in a double-storey building spread over a three-marla plot in Kareem Park.

At least 20 workers were on duty at the unit, which is situated in a congested residential area. The factory had no proper emergency exit or any attention paid to building bylaws or safety procedures.

The owner had set up his office on the ground floor while the cotton manufacturing units were set up on the second and third floors, police said.

At around 8.30am, Rescue 1122 received the call about the fire. Ten teams of rescuers and fire-fighters arrived at the spot to evacuate the people stranded inside the building. The fire was controlled after at least three hours.

All the workers had managed to flee when the fire broke out except for the three labourers, whose way out was blocked by some fallen cotton bales, according to preliminary investigations. Two of the three victims had already expired while the third man died on the way to hospital. The deceased were identified as Ashraf, 45, Javed, 22, and Shahid 20.

A rescue official said dense smoke, congested area, dangling wires and presence of flammable material inside the factory were the main hurdles in the rescue operation.

This is not the first fire in which labourers have died due to poor working conditions in factories. Recurrent incidents in the provincial capital owing to corporate greed and negligence of government departments have claimed numerous lives.

Two months ago in September, three labourers had died when a boiler exploded in a manufacturing unit of a bakery in Kahna. In June, a worker was burnt to death in a steel factory in Bhaghbanpura.

In November last year, five workers were burnt alive when an oil tanker exploded in Haidri Steel Mill in Batapur.

Four workers had died when a roof of a factory collapsed in Kahna in September last year. At least 45 workers had died when a three-storey factory collapsed in Sunder Industrial Estate last year.

The place where the latest incident took place is not fit for work at all, said Niaz Khan, the general secretary of Powerlooms and Garments Workers Union. The government has no system of checks as people have setup factories in residential areas.

“The industrial units are growing like wild bushes and there is no system of inspection by the labour department,” he said. “There are no emergency exits or clear ways to respond to emergencies.”

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Jam Sajjad Hussain said no regard for building bylaws or safety codes was the main reason behind the unfortunate accidents. He said the building owners must adhere to the bylaws as it would help save their property as well as the lives on the labourers.

City District Government Lahore spokesperson Imran Maqbool said they were moving factories that were manufacturing chemicals outside the city and a crackdown against such factories was underway. Afterwards, the CDGL would take action against such industrial units, he added.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1227184/fatal-short-circuit-three-workers-burnt-alive-garment-factory-fire/

SAVE OUR HOMES! PROTESTERS DECRY LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD DUE TO DAM CONSTRUCTION

The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2016.

KARACHI: The Sindh government and Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company’s (SECMC) plan to construct a dam on agricultural land drove residents of Ghorani village in Islamkot Tehsil to tears on Monday.

Protesters such as Sita Bai pleaded to the government not to take away their livelihoods during a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club. She said that she and her fellow villagers had been on the road, fighting for their rights for 17 consecutive days.

Leela Ram and Ravi Shankar, who have been leading the protest in Islamkot and Karachi, told The Express Tribune, “We don’t have any political agenda, rather it’s a question of our children and that our coming generations are going to be affected by this toxic water dam.”

Ram explained that the toxic water from the Thar coalfields will be amassed in the dam being built by the government on private and cultivable landholdings rather than on deserted ones in the same area.

The resident alleged that the proposed 2,700-acre dam will harm their pattern of living and damage the local ecosystem of the area.

According to other protesters, who were shouting slogans, the toxic water dam being constructed in Thar Block-II by SECMC is a grave injustice to the people of the area.

Fifteen villages with a population of 15,000 people will be affected by the construction of the dam, as the area of some of the villages will be submerged once the dam is constructed while others will have to deal with seepage, claimed the villagers. Agricultural land and around 20,000 livestock will also suffer.

They asserted that unlike most villages in Tharparkar desert, theirs is rich, with about 200,000 trees, 20 potable water wells, natural ponds and five historical graveyards – all of which will be affected by the dam.

Junaid Kumar said that their elected representatives do not care about their plight or their future. “This is the first time we celebrated Diwali while protesting on the road,” he lamented.

Another protester, Lakho Bheel, said they do not want to halt construction of the damn but they are demanding the authorities change the location of the dam to an area where there is no cultivatable land or population.

“We are patriotic and must not be considered to be against the development of our area by coal exploration,” maintained Shankar. He added that his people were certainly not against the prosperity of the area.

He demanded the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the chief minister of Sindh and the chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party to take notice of the dam. Otherwise, he warned, they will continue to protest indefinitely.

The SECMC, a joint venture of the Sindh government and Engro Powergen Limited, plans to produce 3,960 megawatts (MW) of electricity through four 330MW and four 660MW plants.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1223702/save-homes-protesters-decry-loss-livelihood-due-dam-construction/