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| Photo credit Håkan Löndahl on Flickr |
A multitude of factors has been implicated this decline.
February 2016 saw international cotton prices touch a six-year low.
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Pakistan cotton crisis
January 2017
Pakistan's economy is in trouble, mainly due to a major setback in its agriculture and textile industry. At the heart of the problem is a massive 27.8% drop in cotton production.
A multitude of factors has been implicated this decline.
February 2016 saw international cotton prices touch a six-year low.
A multitude of factors has been implicated this decline.
February 2016 saw international cotton prices touch a six-year low.
GM crop failures 2015
February 2016
GM in Europe
There's only one kind of GM maize being grown in Europe, and it isn't doing too well.
GM in Europe
There's only one kind of GM maize being grown in Europe, and it isn't doing too well.
GM cotton threat to Pakistan and Africa
August 2015
The situation resulting from inappropriate deployment of GM cotton in India [1] is, it seems, being played over elsewhere in the world.
Rumblings in Pakistan suggest Bt insecticidal cotton has been introduced without the necessary checks on quality. Critics allege that the first GM seed brought to Pakistan in 2005 was intended for research but instead was immediately introduced into farms. An expert from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) recalls how, in 2005, the National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering put seed on the market which it had made with stolen GM seed crossed / mixed with indigenous cotton varieties. In 2008, a Bt cotton expert and ex-employee of Monsanto pointed out that Bt cotton was irrelevant in Pakistan: the biggest threat to its indigenous cotton was cotton leaf virus, while insect pests were of little concern. In 2009-10, PARC imported and planted Bt cotton from China in violation of quarantine law.
As in India, new Bt-resistant pests are arising on cotton in Pakistan. And there doesn't seem to be any sign of the promised increase in yields over the record harvest of 2004 before Bt cotton was introduced.
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| Photo Creative Commons |
Rumblings in Pakistan suggest Bt insecticidal cotton has been introduced without the necessary checks on quality. Critics allege that the first GM seed brought to Pakistan in 2005 was intended for research but instead was immediately introduced into farms. An expert from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) recalls how, in 2005, the National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering put seed on the market which it had made with stolen GM seed crossed / mixed with indigenous cotton varieties. In 2008, a Bt cotton expert and ex-employee of Monsanto pointed out that Bt cotton was irrelevant in Pakistan: the biggest threat to its indigenous cotton was cotton leaf virus, while insect pests were of little concern. In 2009-10, PARC imported and planted Bt cotton from China in violation of quarantine law.
As in India, new Bt-resistant pests are arising on cotton in Pakistan. And there doesn't seem to be any sign of the promised increase in yields over the record harvest of 2004 before Bt cotton was introduced.
Bt GM crops aren't very insect reststant
September 2014
Is the biotechnology industry vision of perfect GM crops, untouched by pests, falling apart?
Is the grand US vision of its GM technology saving farmers in developing countries getting shaky?
Reports coming from around the world in suggest the dreams are not all they're cracked up to be.
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| Bt brinjal (aubergine) protest. CC photo Joe Athialy on Flickr |
Is the grand US vision of its GM technology saving farmers in developing countries getting shaky?
Reports coming from around the world in suggest the dreams are not all they're cracked up to be.
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