THE IMPACT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ON PAKISTAN AGRICULTURE

THE IMPACT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ON PAKISTAN AGRICULTURE

Mrs. Farzana Panhwar
E-mail: farzanapanhwar@hotmail.com
Fax: 92-21-5830826 and 92-221-860410

In 1997 Pakistan population was 137.8 millions out of which 65% population lived in the rural areas. The literacy rate in 1981 for rural areas in 10 years was 22.6%, urban area was 35.8% in rural area was 64.2% while for female illiteracy rate was 75.1% in urban area 51.9% in rural areas was 87.9%. In rural areas the main profession of the people is agriculture or its related fields. The Biotechnology at micro level will completely eliminate the small poor farmers from their jobs and at the same time this will also effect on rural indigenous communities working with hand operated tools. It will also indirectly affect the Government and general public.

If we see at Macro-level this technology will bring the following changes:

• Changes in demographic forces.
• Changes in economic forces.
• Changes in natural forces.
• Changes in technological forces.
• Changes in political forces.
• Changes in cultural forces.

In rural areas where literacy rate is only 66%, these people do farming by using indigenous knowledge and life long practical experience. Biotechnology in the beginning will increase the gap between rich and poor because only rich farmers will be able to purchase seeds, while the poor farmers do not have money to purchase copy right seeds and even if he takes loan to purchase in one year, he will not be able to invest next year. The same gap will increase between the small and large farmers the small farmers will very soon be pushed out but middle and large farmers may be able to use biotechnology and use these specially designed crops with special features, but they would need specially trained staff and proper management which are beyond the control of most farmers of Pakistan and even the rich. When crop will be ready to harvest and market these advanced technologies make it difficult even for a middle class farmers because the profit depend upon the quality and under GATT and WTO only the big highly enterprising farmers will survive, the small and middle farmers will go out from this business. Under GATT and WTO agreements other countries can also bring the food from their countries having it in excess and supply to cheap enough that it would become uneconomical to buy seed, pay royalties, engage highly technical and advanced management staff in Pakistan. Land Reforms in Pakistan have limited land holdings, which are too small for biotechnological economics and management. This way the whole farming business will ends into hands of big corporations which will run agriculture on new lines in Pakistan eliminating the world farmer.

Biotechnology also destroy the indigenous cultural practices and alternative farming practices which are close to the nature and environment friendly, like permaculture, organic and sustainable agriculture.

When these rural farmers goes out from their business, they can not be absorbed as urban labour due to already glut, over population and urban environment. This will change the society’s structure.

At Macro-level not only farming community will be effected but at the same time pharmaceutical, fertiliser industries will be effect directly and secondary effect will be on research, training and educational institutions, to provide new kind of education and training to make biotechnology effect. It will be difficult for Pakistan to cope up with such training and education as at present they are no trained scientists in universities or research and extension departments. Like tissue culture, mechanised harvesting, computer based post-harvesting equipment, sprinkler, trickle irrigation, new kind of weed killing machines and training required not only to run them but also to assemble and repair them. This will change the technical force, since most of machinery need to imported it will change economic forces. This system will break the old rural family tradition that only one person in family earns and remaining 5-6 members of the family share his earning. In new technology every one needs to work and earn, then only they will be able to survive. The controlled by World organisations like WTO and GATT means acceptance international laws and policies, which would change the political situation in Pakistan. Since Pakistan does have to germplasm and raw materials which will be utilised by scientists abroad and if Pakistan persists to get a copy rights, the natural forces in Pakistan will also get change.

At macro level this technology will widen the gap between the Developed and Developing countries. Because Pakistan is lacking technical know how, we have to import this technology. We have to import not only the equipment but also trained staff, and newly created big corporations will hire labour forces from the country, which is cheap but numbers employed will be too small. This way Pakistan’s will be ruined specially the farmers and at the same times all other related business will also be affected.

The biotechnology in agriculture will show direct and indirect effects while biotechnology in medicine, mineral, fuel energy, bio-fertiliser and animal husbandry will also produce similar situation.


The advance technologies are appreciation and these are necessity of life but this will bring the gap between rich and poor and also more widening the gap between the North and South and then Drawn’s laws of Survival of the fittest will repeat. Who so ever is absorbed in the system, will survive and remaining will perish. I am a farmer and see that the worst time will come but this process on a small scale has already started in Pakistan and no one can guess its exact shape in future.


Corresponding author: Farzana Panhwar (Mrs)
Address: 157-C, Unit No.2, Latifabad, Hyderabad
(Sindh), Pakistan.
E-mail: farzanapanhwar@hotmail.com
Fax: 92-21-5830826 and 92-221-860410