Islamabad, Oct 28: A large number of farmers and their representatives shared concerns regarding environmental and health implications of the BT cotton seed during a consultative seminar organised by ActionAid here on Tuesday.

The participants urged the government to stop import and promotion of hazardous seeds in the country.

They also pinpointed the flaws in the Seed Act 2008 and Plant Breeders Right Act, saying that both favour corporate companies without safeguarding the interests of small farmers.

The seminar was organised to discuss and draft a comprehensive strategy on cotton, which is a bumper crop of the country and responsible for the livelihoods of millions of farmers.

The seminar was attended by people from various relevant segments of the society, including farmers, civil society organisations, government departments, researchers, human rights activists and journalists.

The use of modern technology has been increasing in agriculture for decades. Few years back the use of biotechnology and Genetically Modified (GM) Seed increased in agriculture but it raised serious concerns among the farmers as well as the less profit driven circles of the society, nationally as well as globally.

In Pakistan, the year 2007 has seen the use of GM seed and the serious hazards it brought to the cotton crop of the year. Before 2007, very high yields of cotton were experienced but a sudden and sharp decline was caused due to the faulty seed that was prone to viral attacks.

The farmers were not informed of the risks of using this seed, who suffered as the crop was destroyed.

ActionAid’s food rights policy officer Shoaib Aziz said BT cotton seed was sold at extremely high prices and government didn’t intervene despite the fact that experiences of same seeds in India and China played havoc with the cotton crop.

“Multinational companies have encroached upon the space of small farmers. The conventional methods of seed production and conservation are gradually being discouraged and now farmers are not left with any choices but to use the seed given by the seed corporations,” Mr Aziz added.

Ministry of food and agriculture’s deputy ADC Dr Tasawar Hussain said farmers used the seed even though the government had not approved it.

Terming Biotechnology controversial and against the benefits of the small farmers, ActionAid’s Aftab Alam urged three elements to be considered while introducing a new technology.

He said the control of technology should remain with responsible people, who could protect the interest of the farmers, adding that the beneficiaries should always be the poor people and in this case small farmers. He also said that while introducing the new technologies, these should be well assessed for their side effects.