ZAHID BAIG
LAHORE: Pakistan needs an independent, science-based, transparent and predictable regulatory regime that would enable farmers to fully reap benefits of modern and advanced agricultural technologies for sustainable productivity in the country.
These views were observed by Dr Siang Hee TAN, Executive Director of CropLife Asia while talking to media here on Tuesday. CropLife Asia is a global initiative to ensure sustainability of agriculture and Dr Siang Hee is currently visiting Pakistan on an invitation from Pakistan Chapter of CropLife. He attended seminar in the provincial metropolis recently and is scheduled to meet key-policy makers, regulators, government officials, industry and the scientific community.
Dr Siang said though the establishment of more than 30 biotechnology research institutions is a testament to the government’s commitment towards promoting biotech crop solutions, we still need a regulatory environment where the companies applying for registration of their latest products must know the timeframe for approval of their products.
Dr Siang Hee emphasized on the need to distinguish between the applicants and regulators as in Pakistan’s case, some applicants also have the role of regulators which may create issues for other companies. Speakers on this occasion were also of the view that farmers need technology and not subsidy in Pakistan.
Dr Siang was of the view that growing population, climate change, scarcity of water and changing lifestyles continue to pose challenges to our food security. In order to address this emergent challenge, we need to promote sustainable means to grow food and embrace technological innovations that enable the same, he further said.
Siang in his presentation claimed that 18 million farmers had used the technology while total beneficiary families are 65 million. He said that the area under GM crops had increased to 185 million hectares in the year 2016 from negligible land in 1996. He said this shows tremendous opportunity to improve crop production but improved and innovative technologies are the key. Dr Siang said that demand for biotech crops is growing globally and claimed that even the EU was among the importers of GM food. He said international biotech crop trade was also increasing in tonnage, types of products and number of markets.
Nevertheless, to take benefit of the new technology, Pakistan has to create enabling environment, formulate science and evidence-based regulations and increase investment in research. He also stressed the need for promoting public-private partnership especially in extension and need for IP protection to attract investment.
Praising the Pakistan government’s vision and policy-position on technology adoption, especially relating to bio-technology, Dr Hee urged the regulators to develop better synergies with their international counterparts and benefit from knowledge-sharing through data-transportability arrangements.
The best-practices being adopted across the Asian region include allocation of adequate resources for staffing and capacity-building of regulatory bodies, along with the deployment of modern agriculture technologies and progressive-farming methods. Rules and processes are being made more conducive to agricultural growth, through close consultation with the experts of this sector, he added.
Sony P Tababa, Director Biotechnology Affairs CropLife Asia, also spoke on this occasion and threw light on her organisation. Based in Singapore, CropLife Asia is operating in 91 countries with generous support from prestigious global enterprises like Bayer, Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, etc. This global federation nurtures technological solutions to enrich the plant-science industry in pursuit of sustainability in agriculture, while it advocates international developments for crop-protection, seeds and agricultural biotechnology. Its innovative approach is protecting the interests of farmers, governments, consumers and the environment.
