A MAJOR reason for the agriculture sector’s low productivity is attributed to the failure of governments to develop an efficient, well-regulated and disciplined seed market.

Currently, there exists an almost unruly seed market largely dominated by profiteers selling seeds which have low germination and impure genetics. In all 17 cases were filed in courts against such peddlers in the last fiscal year. As a result, the use of certified seeds in various crops has been as low as 15-20 per cent and most of the seeds come from the farmers’ saved stock.

The farmers have saved and recycled seeds of various crops, protected their purity, exchanged and shared them with fellow farmers. But this age-old practice is in danger as seed has already become a hot industrial item and is being privatised.

In Pakistan, as elsewhere, the seed sector is divided into formal and informal sectors. The formal sector consists of national and multinational companies whereas the informal sector comprises farmer-driven practices, developed over the centuries.

The private sector was allowed to enter seed business in 1979 and in 1994 the government declared seed business at par with other industries which attracted investments in this sector.

In the preceding fiscal year, the number of registered companies was 766, which included four in the public sector and five multinationals. Local seeds worth 296,720 tonnes were available in the market while imported ones were on sale to the tune of 22,508 tonnes. No imported seeds were available for wheat and cotton crops.

The US government, in a recent statement, said that the government has made ‘no tangible progress’ in protecting agricultural intellectual property rights (IPRs). Pakistan also does not enforce IPRs for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This, it said, has “deterred US seed companies from entering the Pakistani market.”

The statement referred to Plant Breeders Rights Bill, 2010, which was moved in parliament and aimed at setting standards for protecting against illegal multiplication of seeds and better controls on seed certification. The ministry of agriculture also introduced legislation to place tighter controls on seed companies in producing quality seed and registering certified seed.

In Pakistan, it said, seed labeled as ‘certified’ has had less than a 35 per cent germination rate in some years, compared to over 90 per cent in the United States. “A US seed company has failed to negotiate a deal with government officials to allow for the legal introduction of biotech cotton seed into the country.”

The two bills the US government has mentioned about are Plant Breeders Rights Bill, 2010, and Seed (Amendments) Bill 2010. These bills are of controversial nature and may cause a major setback to small farmers, in particular, by preventing them from performing their traditional role in producing crops.

The proposed amendments are to provide larger presence of the private sector in agriculture and introduce latest developments in seed technology and seed industry. The two legislations, if passed, will, in fact, introduce industrial agriculture in the country and curb the practice of reusing seeds of the previous crops by the farmers.

The rights of the plant breeders, it is said, are a limited form of proprietary rights, which permit their holders to exclude others from producing and selling seed of their plant varieties. The holder can initiate civil proceedings against the persons found infringing these rights. Such protection will attract investment in plant breeding. Pakistan being a member of the WTO is required to provide protection to plant varieties under sui generis system under Article 27-3 (b) of the WTO-TRIPS Agreement.

Since agriculture has been transferred to provinces as required under the 18th amendment, these bills now need to be moved in the provincial legislatures. But only Punjab has done so. The passage of the two bills will open the doors to multinational companies to come and invest in the country’s agriculture sector.

This may weaken the role of public sector bodies engaged in this sector. Then, small farmers may be the ultimate losers and many will be uprooted from their lands. The establishment needs to reconsider the changes. It may prefer to have reforms but without hurting the small growers.

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