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The Bt Cotton in Pakistan:

Boon or Bane?

Syed Khuram Farukh

15020235

17/12/2013

Abstract

The paper seeks to gauge the impact that BT technology has had on the crop yield of cotton in Pakistan and looks in depth at the success of some other countries that this technology has bought about. The policy reforms of India have been and critically analyzed and both the advantages and short comings of the technology are discussed have been clearly laid out. The paper uses empirical evidence to see if the introduction of BT varieties of cotton and by

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extension all genetically modified crops have been a success or a necessary evil. Some solutionsand policy recommendations have also been provided at the end.

1.1 Introduction

Cotton is an important cash crop and the third most widely

grown crop in the Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Bureau of

stastics, it is the only crop amongst the largest three (the

other two being wheat and rice) whose production and total area

under cultivation have been increased exponentially over the last

3 years. The recent changes in dynamics of the cotton industry in

Pakistan can be pinned down to the introduction of BT variety of

cotton. Cotton accounts for 8.2% value added to agriculture and

3.2% value added to GDP. The livelihoods of millions of people

depend on the cotton industry, directly and indirectly. Since

the stakes involved are very high, the government of Pakistan has

been very skeptical about introducing genetically modified

varieties of cotton seeds, there is much debate still going on

between private biomedical laboratories, farmers and ministry of

agriculture. Apart from the national issues cotton also accounts

for major exports. Pakistan is the second largest exporter of raw

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cotton and a major exporter for garments. The yield per hector

however is extremely low, as Pakistan ranks 13th in the world in

terms of yield while it is the 4th largest producer of cotton

worldwide. Genetically modified forms of cotton are being used in

all major cotton producing countries and their overall impact has

been favorable in most of the countries.

The high yield due to genetically modified cotton comes with

some strings attached; the high cost of BT cotton seeds, crop

failures, use of insecticides and dealing with higher

productivity. This paper discuss the repercussions of the mass

introduction of BT cotton varieties through deep rooted analysis

of the existing farmlands within Pakistan using this variety and

simultaneously looking at BT cotton success stories all over the

world. The paper is divided in the following way: The first

section is divided into two subsections. 2.1 will make use of

scientific knowledge to establish exactly why BT cotton gives

higher yield per acre. 2.2 will give some facts and statics about

of the BT cotton industry in Pakistan Section 3 would contain

three subsections. 3.1would discuss in depth the success of

Indian cotton industry after the introduction of BT cotton 3.2

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would list down the characteristics of farmers who are inclined

towards using BT cotton seed and making it a success and 3.3

would give the policy measures taken by Indian farmers to make

the most out of BT cotton industry. Section 4 will outline

problems, provide solutions and give alternative general policy

recommendations. The 5th and final section will give a conclusion

of the entire paper and give a verdict on the degree of success

of BT cotton.

1.2 Literature Review

Ramani SV (2008) provides a historical narrative into the

development of BT cotton in the world and narrows it down to the

introduction of genetically modified forms of cotton in south

East asia. The paper is of special concern because it not only

takes into account the official tests carried out and the year in

which BT cotton was legitimately introduced but it also takes

into account all the illegal tests that private companies were

conducting throughout India even when BT varieties were unheard

off. The paper then goes on to discuss the yield results of these

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government certified and non-certified varieties of cotton and

compares it to the normal cotton.

Rao IA. (No date) provides some facts and figures of

Pakistans’ cotton industry using a historical narrative. It then

goes on to explain the problems faced by cotton farmers today and

gently progresses towards establishing genetically modified seeds

as the only solution to Pakistan’s problems of low productivity

and lower profits. The paper then goes on to discuss the steps

that the government has taken towards the establishment of a

system that supports BT cotton and measures its success over

time.

David and Sai (2002) outline the reason why farmers in india

are inclined towards using BT cotton technology. Their assertions

are backed up by empirical evidence collected by interviewing

both bt and non-bt cotton farmers. The paper also outlines the

way in which BT cotton reduces the requirement of insecticides

and increases yield.

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India has had a major change in the dynamics of cotton

cultivation since the official introduction of BT cotton in 2002.

Naryanmorthy and kaklamkar (2006) have used empirical data to

discuss the impact that BT cotton has had on farms in Maharashtra

and the yeild difference in BT cotton and non BT cotton farms.

The paper also defines the characteristics of farmers who resort

to the use of genetically modified seeds and outlines favorable

conditions for proper cultivation. The paper is concludes with

policy reforms that have made the Indian cotton industry

successful and outlines certain loopholes that must be filled to

make it the system perfect and sustainable.

1.3 Data Review

Agriculture stastics of Pakistan, powered by the government

of Pakistan’s ministry of food and agriculture has been used to

acquire all the data tables shown in this particular paper.

Two of the tables were also collected from Pakistan bureau

of stastics which were later corroborated with the facts

collected from Agriculture stastics of Pakistan.

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Two tables used in section 3.1 and 3.2 have been taken out

from the article two articles mentioned above on the Indian

cotton industry, one by David and sai (2002) while the other was

by Naryanmorthy and kaklamkar (2006).

2.1 Scientific knowledge and history of BT cotton

In 1911, a scientist in Germany discovered that a commonly

occurring bacterium of the region Bacillus Thuringensis could act as an

insecticide against local species of moth. After subsequent

research it led to the bacterium’s commercialization in france in

1938 and iin USA in 1950 and initially it was marketed in the

form of insecticides used as a spray to finish the pest and bull

worm attack. In the 1980’s, scientists at mansanto embarked on

the quest to isolate the genes of this bacterium and immerse them

in simple cotton, a living organism. One the seed had been

germinated, it became BT cotton. As soon as the initial varieties

were tested and approved, Monsanto introduced these varieties as

early as 1996 in the USA and illegally in India around 1995.

Illegal tests performed on farmlands throughout india gave

scientists the opportunity for research and developed, something

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that would not have been possible in the US outside of lab

settings. It also introduced the BT varieties to farmers who had

been consumed by pest attack and lost all their produce at the

hands of local moths and bull worms. The toxin within this

genetically modified form of cotton kills large hoards of insects

as they munch down on the bacterium induced cotton balls(Ramani

9-14). This way, the insect attack has been taken care of even

before the stage of the application of insecticides comes in.

Bacillus Thuringensis is not resistant to all forms of pests or insects

hence farmers still need to spend a considerable sum of money to

buy insecticides but a difference in yield clearly differentiates

BT cotton from non-BT cotton, since the yield difference is at

least 30% greater in the latter case. In developing countries

like India the yield can be as high as 80%, the insects overtime

tend to build resistance to it however and the productivity goes

down, but the fall shouldn’t be blown out of proportions and BT

cotton should be given credit where it is due.

2.2 Facts and stastics of BT cotton industry in Pakistan

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As mentioned earlier, the cotton yield in Pakistan ranks at

13th position in the world which is extremely low considering it

is the most widely grown cash crop of the country. A multitude of

reasons have been given for the low yield, high intensity of pest

attack, lower quality of seeds and other agricultural inputs and

inadequate technical understanding are amongst the top few.

Agricultural biotechnology seems to be the only option in this

case which can rescue the country out of its low productivity

trap. Private agrochemical labs have taken the lead on this

matter and have started to import seeds from countries such as

china, india, Thailand and Malaysia. The cotton crop is

essentially endangered by two species of pests – chewing pests

and sucking pests. In Pakistan, the climatic conditions in the

cotton growing areas are extremely favorable for the germination

of the chewing pests. The most threatening chewing pests are

bullworms, known as ‘sundi’ in the local language. BT cotton

seeds help to counter the need to apply tons of pesticides and

insecticides since it is highly resistant to attack by chewing

pests. Ever since the introduction of bt cotton seeds at a mass

scale the amount of area under cultivation of cotton has

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increased substantially (ijaz). Data collected by the Pakistan

bureau proves this assertion:

Cotton is the only crop amongst the top 3 (wheat, rice

cotton) which has increased both its production and the area

under cultivation during the last three years. The trend towards

growing cotton at a mass and substituting it with other important

crops such as wheat is a very recent one and specially came into

notice after the official introduction of BT cotton in Pakistan.

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The following table also collected from Pakistan bureau of

stastics gives the yield per province over the years to highlight

the major cotton growing areas of Pakistan.

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The table clearly shows that Punjab is the leading producer

of raw cotton in Pakistan and also occupies the greatest area.

This data shows the decreasing trend of using desi varieties of

cotton which is being translated to upland or high yielding

varieties of cotton seeds. Yield differences cannot be noticed in

a short amount of time (ie 2004 to 2008/9) but data collected in

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the 1990s clearly shows that the yield per acre has increased

substantially. The table below shows the difference in yields.

An increase in yield from 512 kgs per hector in 1998/99 to

713 kgs per hector in2008/2009 is clearly indicative of the

success that BT cotton has achieved in Pakistan over the course

of 10 years.

In 2005, Pakistan government injected 40,000 kg bt cotton

seeds across 8000 acres of Pakistan’s farmland which bought great

benefits to the cotton growing farmers throughout the country.

The government assisted farms however are not huge in number

hence the hold of government in rural areas of Punjab and sindh

is fairly weak(ijaz). The following table from the agriculture

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cencus(2000) compares the government farms compared to private

owned farms.

Government farms reporting cotton are merely 37, a number

negligible compared to the 1626779 private farms. This reduces

the checks and balances that can be placed on the kinds of GM

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seeds being used in cotton cultivation. In most of the private

farms the seeds are purchased at a lower cost from the black

market. The varieties of BT cotton seeds are not adequately

tested for conditions prevalent in Pakistan and can prove to be

disastrous for both the farmer and the general public. The BT

varieties currently planted in Pakistan give a yield of 23-28

maund (1 maund = 40 kg) per acre while non BT cotton only gives a

yield of 17-20 maund per acre. The yield difference is easily 30%

which is far lower considering the fact that BT cotton is said to

increase the yield by as much as 85% in some cases(Ijaz).

Nonetheless this increase in cotton production has given the

farmers to plant BT cotton and rid them of the issue to use huge

amounts of pesticides and only get meager quality cotton in

return.

3.1 Success of India in cotton cultivation

India has had major breakthroughs in BT cotton production

over the past decade. Even though cotton was officially

introduced in India in 2002, private companies such as Mahyco-

Monsanto have been working on the development of BT cotton

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variety underhand. This hidden research has coupled up with

Indian governments’ inclination towards using genetically

modified crops for higher yield make India the largest exporter

of raw cotton and the second largest producer of cotton in the

world ( Ramani 6). The mass introduction of BT cotton in india is

a subject of great interest. How did BT cotton penetrate into the

Indian system at such a fast pace? Does the answer lie with the

supply side, private companies like Monsanto or Indian state, or

does it lie with the demand side, with the farmers themselves?

What factors prompted the farmers to resort to the use of BT

cotton? Naryanmorthy and klamkar (2008) embarked on an empirical

research of farms in Maharashtra, a province where 36% of the

Indian cotton is grown and a province that was the first to

welcome BT cotton with open arms. The BT cotton crop in India did

not show significant difference in cost due to a reduction in the

amount of pesticides used as opposed to a widely believed theory

which proved to be true for other regions.

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The cost differentials between bt and non bt cotton are not

significant but the difference in profits and output is where the

BT cotton distinguishes itself and takes a lead from all other

competitors. According to the empirical research the rise in

productivity was immense, the BT farms produced 24

quintels/hector grossing a profit of 31000 rs while the non-BT

cotton farms only produced 15 quintels/hector grossing a profit

of 17000 rs (Ramani kalamkar 2720). The only thing that keeps the

Indian farmers from completely shifting to BT cotton, is the seed

cost which is at least 5 times as much as a normal cotton seed.

3.2 Characteristics of farmers who are inclined towards

using BT cotton seed

It has already been established that the success of the

spread of bt cotton in india lies more towards the demand side.

Farmers who were willing to take up the challenge to plant a

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genetically modified crop had some distinguishing

characteristics. The most striking difference came in the

personal characteristics. Farmers showed a shift towardsBT cotton

were on average more educated that those who stuck to non-BT

cotton. The former acquired 9 years, while the latter only

acquired about 6 years of formal education. The cost of BT cotton

seeds per kg is 1500s while non-BT seeds cost 300rs per kg. This

huge disparity in prices prompts only those farmers who have

ample supply of irrigation channels to use the BT seed. Rains fed

areas are almost exclusively led to use the normal cotton

variety. There is no correlation between the size of the farm

and the choice of BT cotton. Since the seeds are scale neutral,

both small and large farm owners who possess the above mentioned

characteristics are inclined towards resorting to the use of BT

cotton. Six reasons why farmers were inclined to use bt cotton

hace been tabulated below:

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3.3 Policy measures taken by Indian farmers

The cost of BT cotton seed, as mentioned earlier is much

higher than the seed of average cotton crop. In developing

countries like india, this makes it extremely difficult for the

farmer to take a decision between aiming for higher productivity

and reducing the costs. In some cases the Bt cotton crop is only

given precedence in seasons where the farmer feels that the pest

attack will be considerably higher. Under normal circumstances

high yield is compromised on to cut down on the costs of

production. India has developed institutes that incorporate the

BT genes into relatively inexpensive crops (David and Sai 4601).

A number of agro chemical labs have developed recently both in

the private and public sectors throughout India which helps in

finding cost efficient ways to develop BT cotton seeds. Taking a

market oriented approach towards the development of biotechnology

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can work for the benefit of both the consumers and the farmers.

The success of Indian cotton industry is rooted in the act of

taking adequate measures to lower the cost of genetically

modified seeds and making the entire project sustainable.

The pests that prove to be lethal to BT cotton are different

from those that prove disastrous to normal cotton (Bollworms for

instance). Indian research institutes have been specialized to

tackle pests and insects that prove to be lethal for BT cotton.

Proper research and development is essential for the success for

a scheme such as this and the India has been able to solve this

problem to a great extent. The general level of education in

farmers should also be increased, since a correlation between

education and choice of seed has been noticed. Indian institutes

have not only been consistent with providing education for all

but seminars are also conducted regularly for the farmers to keep

themselves up to date with the current happenings of the modern

agricultural world.

4.1 Solutions and policy recommendations

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One of the major problems outlined in this paper and in

hoards of literature on Pakistani cotton industry points out

towards the lack of government involvement in cotton agriculture

sector. Where on one hand, wheat is constantly under the lens of

the government, an important cash crop such as cotton is left

utterly uncared for. The number of government that report cotton

are currently only 37, this number should be increased

substantially in order to address the issue of low government

involvement.

Research and development centers and agrochemical labs

should be set up both in the private and public sector to create

more opportunities to make cross breeds of BT cotton plant that

is much better suited to the conditions of Pakistan. The low

productivity of bt cotton crops in Pakistan as pointed out

earlier is because the species grown here might not be suitable

for the local soil or waters etc.

The price of BT cotton seed also causes problems in the

spread of technology, just like India, Pakistan being a developed

country cannot spend a large sum of money on acquiring seeds that

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will be of no use in the coming season. The farmers are not ready

to make a sudden shift from normal cotton to bt cotton. What

needs to be done here is follow a gradual scheme in which support

prices are set for the BT cotton seeds and farmers are encouraged

into purchasing the HYV of cotton seeds. Once they see the

profits for themselves they will be inclined to purchase these

seeds and the cycle of high productivity would go on.

Cotton production in Pakistan is non uniform. Punjab

singlehandedly grows more cotton than all the other provinces put

together. The climatic conditions of other areas are also suited

to cotton crops. This form of cash crop cultivation should be

introduced in other provinces so that a uniform growth of cotton

can take place throughout the country. BT varieties of cotton are

resistant to pests and prove to be much more productive hence it

will be in the interests of farmers in other provinces to make

use of this technology and reap more benefits.

5.1 Concluding remarks

This paper was meant to develop a holistic understanding of

the plight of BT cotton in Pakistan and outline the major players

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in its introduction. It started off by pointing out some facts

about the cotton itself and moved on towards facts and figures

regarding the cotton industry in Pakistan. A very keen

understanding of Pakistanis’ next door neighbor, India, was used

to help provide some recommendations for policy building which

makes BT cotton as successful in Pakistan as it is in India.

One shortcomings of the paper are isolated factual

groundings, most of the literature failed to adequately

differentiate between BT cotton and normal cotton. The yield and

productivity increases that have been noticed recently are not

being pinned down to GM seeds because the effect measured is not

being properly isolated.

Another shortcoming was lack of formal literature present on

Pakistan’s cotton industry. While numerous research papers were

found on the cotton industry of India, china and USA. Pakistans

cotton industry was something unheard of, this made the writing

of this essay extremely difficult as the preliminary research had

to be conducted right out of the papers published by agricultural

ministry which proved to be a daunting yet stimulating task.

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Overall the paper addresses the issue at hand adequately, BT

cotton has had its fair share of success in Pakistan but in order

to further explore the benefits of this genetically modified form

of biotechnology the government should provide the farmers with

proper knowledge, structures and quality testes, certified seeds.

Work Cited

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David, G. Shourie, and YVST Sai. "Bt Cotton: Farmers' Reactions." Economic and Political Weekly 37.46 (2002): 4601-602. Web.

Narayanamoorthy, A., and SS Kalamkar. "Is Bt Cotton Cultivation Economically Viable for Indian Farmers? An Empirical Analysis." Economic and Political Weekly 40.26 (2006): 2716-724. Print.

Ramani, Shayama V. "After the Green Revolution: BT Cotton in India." 40.21 (2008): n. pag. Print.

Rao, Ijaz A. "Pakissan.com; First Bt Cotton Grown in Pakistan." Pakissan.com; First Bt Cotton Grown in Pakistan. Pakissan, 2008. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. <http://www.pakissan.com/english/advisory/biotechnology/first.bt.cotton.grown.in.pakistan.sht>