Biotech

Facts & Trends

2013

Pakistan

Pakistan planted Bt cotton for the third consecutive year in 2012

In 2012
2012 was the third year of commercialization of Bt cotton
in Pakistan.
Around ~700,000 small farmers planted 2.8 million
hectares at an adoption rate of 82% on the total 3.4
million hectares of cotton.
This is an increase over 2011, when 2.6 million hectares
of Bt cotton, equivalent to 81% of the 3.2 million
hectares total cotton were planted by 650,000 farmers.
In 2012-13, it is expected that cotton production will
surpass the historic benchmark of 15 million bales to an
estimated 15.5 million bales, with Bt cotton making an
important contribution.
Brookes and Barfoot estimated a US$ 334.2 million GM
crop income benefits from 2010 to 2011 (Brookes and
Barfoot, 2013).

Biotech Cotton Approval

In Februrary 2012, the Punjab Seed Council (PSC)
officially approved 8 new insect resistant Bt cotton
varieties including four new unconditional approval for
insect resistant Bt cotton varieties namely FH-114, CIM598, SITARA-009 and A-ONE; and one year conditional
approval for four additional Bt cotton varieties namely
TARZAN-1, NS-141, IR-NIBGE-3 and MNH-886.

Similarly, the PSC also renewed three insect resistant

Bt cotton varieties including IR-1524, ALI AKBAR-802
and NEELAM-121 which received one year conditional
approval in 2011.
One Bt cotton variety FH-113 was discontinued in 2012.
Hence in 2012, 16 insect resistant Bt cotton varieties
were available for commercial cultivation in three
intensive cotton growing provinces of Punjab, Sindh and
Balochistan in Pakistan.
All 16 approved Bt cotton varieties (including one Bt
cotton hybrid) contain one of the two released events of
Bt cotton namely MON531 (cry1Ac gene) and the GFM
event expressing the fusion gene cry1Ac and cry1Ab.

country profile
Population: 167 million
GDP: US$165 billion
GDP per Capita: US$990
Agriculture as % GDP: 20%
Agricultural GDP: US$33 billion
% employed in agriculture: 44%
Arable Land (AL): 22.5 million hectares
Ratio of AL/Population*: 0.5
*Ratio: % global arable land / % global population

Major crops:
Cotton
Sugarcane Maize
Wheat
Rice
Commercialized Biotech Crop: Bt Cotton
Total area under biotech crops and (%) increase in 2012:

2.8 Million Hectares
(+8%)
Farm income gain from biotech, 2010-2011: US$334.2 million

Benefits

Future Prospects

A surplus of production in 2011-12 allowed Pakistan to

increase cotton exports by 77% from 0.937 million bales
in 2010-11 (valued at US$500 million) to 1.66 million
bales in 2011-12.

Second generation biotech cotton products with both

Bt and herbicide tolerance traits in varietal and hybrid
background, were field tested in 2011 and are being
continued in 2012.

With an estimated cotton production of 15.5 million

bales in 2012-13, the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee
(PCCC), responsible for implementing the national
Cotton Vision 2015, aims to produce 19.1 million
bales of cotton by 2015, which is equivalent to a ~75%
increase in production compared to the five year period
2010 to 2015.

These have the potential to further increase yield, reduce

insecticides, and deliver substantial net economic benefits
of up to US$280 per hectare, equivalent to a national gain
of US$800 million annually.

Pakistan is placing considerable reliance on improved

germplasm and biotechnology to increase production by
40-60% in a national strategy to achieve the 19.1 million
bales target by 2015.
In 2012, Kouser & Qaim on their research study Valuing
a financial, health and environmental benefits of Bt
cotton in Pakistan, concluded that Bt cotton adoption
results in significantly lower chemical pesticide use,
higher yields, and higher gross margins, which is
consistent with the results from other countries.
The study noted that the lower pesticide use brings
about significant health advantages in terms of
reduced incidence of acute pesticide poisoning,
and environmental advantages in terms of higher
farmland biodiversity and lower soil and groundwater
contamination.

As part of its on-going research, Pakistan is prioritizing

the important disease of cotton caused by leaf curl virus
(CLCuV), which can cause significant losses in cotton
production.
A collaborative work with the Institute of Agricultural
Sciences and National Centre of Excellence in Molecular
Biology, University of Punjab, Lahore and University of
Toronto, Canada, under the coordination of the Punjab
Agriculture Research Board has developed a CLCuVresistant cotton plant through transgenic RNA interference
(RNAi) technology.
Food, feed and fiber crops are major contributors to
Pakistans GDP, and biotech crops could make a significant
contribution at this critical time, when Pakistan is trying to
desperately recover from the two worst consecutive floods
in its history.

The authors noted that These positive externalities are

valued at US$79 per acre (US$195/hectare), which adds
another 39% to the benefits in terms of higher gross
margins. Adding up financial and external benefits results
in total benefits of US$284 per acre (US$701/hectare), or
US$1.7 billion for the entire Bt cotton area in Pakistan.

Excerpts from:

James, Clive. 2012. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM

Crops: 2012. ISAAA Brief No. 44. ISAAA: Ithaca, New York.

Other Sources:

Brookes, G and P Barfoot. 2013.

http://www.pgeconomics.co.uk/publications.php
The World Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://
www.fao.org/countryprofiles/

For more information, contact:

ISAAA SEAsiaCenter
G.S. Khush Hall, IRRI Los Baos, Laguna 4031
Philippines
Phone: +63 49 5367933
Telefax: +63 49 5367216
Email: knowledge.center@isaaa.org

Or visit: http://www.isaaa.org/