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[T]he highest cotton produce recorded so far was in 2004 registered 11,138 million bales while the nearest spike was in 2014 at 10,600. Why on earth is the country’s signature cash crop registering steady decline when technology and seed both should have helped otherwise. The year 2015 was the worst since 1998 as production fell to 7,000 million bales.
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During the Zardari regime in 2010, the GM seeds legitimately entered the Pakistani market after being smuggled from India for almost a decade. While smuggling of cheaper and vulnerable GM seed sees its highs and lows, it is basically driven by weak pricing regime the cotton crop has been facing over the years. The trend raises questions about Pakistan’s seriousness to evaluate GM or BT (Bacillus Thuriengisis) seeds from the perspective of its peculiar climate, soil and fertilisers etc.
Related on the SLP
Sans stringent GM seed evaluation criteria along with incentive to the farmers, the produce will increasingly become unpredictable and vulnerable. Moreover, local research on cotton seeds has been a crucial guiding star until funding crunch hit it hard. The ugly reality is that the existing GM seed is too weak against the pest and worms, which have evolved strong immunity to its toxins.
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The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Curious case of Pakistan’s falling cotton production
