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2007-01-15 | permalink
Adoption of Bt cotton in Pakistan
Saying that “Cotton is an important cash crop for Pakistan” would be an understatement. It accounts for 8.2 per cent of the value added in the agriculture sector and about 2% to GDP, adds over $2.8 billion to the national economy. [...] In my previous articles I have repeatedly discussed (now) widespread cultivation of illegal Bt Cotton. As Illegal seed is not subject to regulatory assessment, it can damage confidence and the long term adoption of agricultural biotechnology. Illegal seed can be of variable quality. [...] With national biosafety regulatory framework in place, so far public sector R&D centers, such as, NIBGE (National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering) Faisalabad, and CEMB (Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology) University of the Punjab Lahore, have come forward and submitted applications to the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) - a directorate being established in the Ministry of Environment for commercialization and field trial approvals of their versions of Bt Cotton respectively.
Overview
News
2007-01-15 | permalink
Adoption of Bt cotton in Pakistan
Saying that “Cotton is an important cash crop for Pakistan” would be an understatement. It accounts for 8.2 per cent of the value added in the agriculture sector and about 2% to GDP, adds over $2.8 billion to the national economy. [...] In my previous articles I have repeatedly discussed (now) widespread cultivation of illegal Bt Cotton. As Illegal seed is not subject to regulatory assessment, it can damage confidence and the long term adoption of agricultural biotechnology. Illegal seed can be of variable quality. [...] With national biosafety regulatory framework in place, so far public sector R&D centers, such as, NIBGE (National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering) Faisalabad, and CEMB (Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology) University of the Punjab Lahore, have come forward and submitted applications to the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) - a directorate being established in the Ministry of Environment for commercialization and field trial approvals of their versions of Bt Cotton respectively.
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