THE government has decided to make the seed business a federal subject, and has, for the purpose, reintroduced a bill in the National Assembly originally tabled four years ago but never taken up.

The bill titled Seed Amendment Bill 2014, and introduced by the minister for national food security and research on August 8, aims at amending the Seed Act 1976 to provide an enhanced role to the private sector in the development of seed industry which, he said, was already playing ‘a stronger and more vibrant’ role.

Agriculture, along with the management of the seed business, had become a provincial subject after the passage of the 18th Amendment in the constitution and two provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, had already moved a bill to this effect in their assemblies. But the minister claims that all the provincial assemblies have passed a special resolution authorising the federal government to amend the Seed Act of 1976 and retain it as a federal subject, according to a report in this newspaper.

Shifting seed-related matters and business back to the centre is a development of great significance. It curtails the autonomy of the provinces. Already the creation of the ministry of national food security and research to replace the defunct ministry of agriculture, food and livestock has affected decision-making of the provinces in certain agricultural matters.

The main loser will be the subsistence or small farmer because the commercial seed system would undermine the grower’s seed system

The new bill, after it becomes law, would allow the private sector to produce basic seed for its multiplication and certification, and also set up accredited seed testing laboratories. These functions were hitherto performed by the state-run institutes and agencies but over the years, the minister says, the ‘capacity of the public sector has impaired.’

However, he assured that the government would provide ‘a level-playing field to both the public and the private sector.’ As it looks, the government intends to ‘open up’ the Pakistani seed market to foreign seed companies with a view to modernise the country’s seed industry under pressure of multilateral bodies. But multinationals may be reluctant to deal with each province separately and would prefer to have liaison with the federal government only.

The Seed Amendment Bill and Plant Breeders Rights Bill were moved in the National Assembly in 2010 to meet the country’s obligations under the WTO regime. The government or the bureaucracy at the behest of big landowners resisted their passage for more than four years for they knew that these laws, when passed and implemented, will act as a harbinger to industrial agriculture in the country and weaken their hold over the existing farming system which they profit from. The old methods of farming, it is stated, are no more in sync with the modern-day needs and stagnate crop production.

However, the main loser will be the subsistence or small farmer because the commercial seed system would, as a corollary, undermine the grower’s seed system. The KP’s draft Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 2014 has been mindful of such an eventuality. It says: “Nothing contained in this Act shall affect a farmer’s traditional right to save, use, exchange, share or sell his farm produce of a protected variety except where a sale is for the purpose of reproduction under a branded marketing arrangement.” The KP’s move to uphold farmers’ age-old practice is in stark contrast to the WTO’s rules. However, the KP bill will become redundant after transfer of seed business to the federation.

The US State Department, in a 2013 statement, had said that Pakistan has made ‘no tangible progress’ in protecting agricultural intellectual property rights (IPRs). It 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 and Seed Amendment Bill 2010 which, it deplored, the country’s parliament had failed to pass although they were approved by the NA standing committee on agriculture. In Pakistan, it said, seed labelled as ‘certified’ has less than 35pc germination rate, compared to over 90pc in the US.

Pakistan’s seed market is dominated by non-professional companies selling seeds having low germination and impure genetics. As a result, the use of certified seeds in crops has been as low as 15-20pc and most of the seeds come from the farmers’ saved stock.

Quality seed plays an instrumental role in raising farm output. Their availability is essential to achieve production targets. However, the fact remains that agriculture is able to feed most of the population because the farmers have saved and recycled seeds of various crops and protected their purity. This age-old practice looks in danger as seed has already become an industrial item and is being privatised. The private sector was allowed to enter seed business in the country in 1979, and in 1994 the government declared seed business at par with other industries which attracted investment in this sector.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, August 18th, 2014