Dynamics of Agricultural

Biotechnology in Pakistan
Umar Farooq
06U711
BSc. IV Section C
Lahore School of Economics
 Definations
• Biotechnology
• The use of biological processes, as through the exploitation and manipulation of
living organisms or biological systems, in the development or manufacture
of a product or in the technological solution to a problem. As such,
biotechnology is a general category that has applications in pharmacology,
medicine, agriculture, and many other fields. (W. Old and S. B. Primrose,
Principles of Gene Manipulation (5th ed. 1994); J. E. Smith, Biotechnology
(3d ed. 1996).)
• United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as:
• "Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or
derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific
use."
• Agricultural Biotechnology
• Agricultural biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agriculture. Most
generally, agricultural biotechnology is the use of organisms or parts of an
organism to make or improve products or processes in agriculture. The
domestication of plant species and selection of desired characteristics within
agricultural species.
• Productivity
• The amount of output per unit of input (labor, equipment, and capital)
• Transgenic plants
• Transgenic plants possess a gene or genes that have been transferred from a
different species. Although DNA of another species can be integrated in a
plant genome by natural processes, the term "transgenic plants" refers to
 Brief introduction
• The use of agricultural biotechnology offers a number of important
environmental benefits:
• Reducing the need to increase the area of the earth given over to
agriculture by increasing the productivity of current land use.
• Promoting minimal tillage which reduces fuel use and greenhouse
gases whilst reducing soil erosion.
• Helping to reduce green house gas emissions through the delivery
of a sustainable biofuels market, fuelling future transportation
needs.
• Helping farmers adapt to the changing climate by producing crops
with improved drought, stress, salt and low-nitrogen tolerance
• Increase the yield while reducing the need for production inputs
• Increase the yield through improving the crop quality
• Grow energy crops in areas with marginal conditions e.g. drought,
saline soils
• Develop efficient micro-organisms and enzymes to convert the
cellulose in the crops to sugars, which can them be fermented
into biofuels and
• Convert agricultural waste into biofuels.
• Some of the possible threats by adopting agricultural biotechnology are:
• Spreading genetically-engineered genes to indigenous plants
• Increasing toxicity, which may move through the food chain
• Disrupting nature’s system of pest control
• Creating new weeds or virus strains
• The spread of transgenes to related weeds or conspecifics via crop-weed
hybridization
• Reduction of the fitness of non-target organisms through the acquisition of
transgenic traits via hybridization
• The rapid evolution of resistance of insect pests such as Lepidoptera to Bt
• Accumulation of the insecticidal Bt toxin, which remains active in the soil after
the crop is ploughed under and binds tightly to clays and humic acids;
• Disruption of natural control of insect pests through intertrophic-level effects of
the Bt toxin on predators
• Unanticipated effects on non-target herbivorous insects (i.e., monarch
butterflies) through deposition of transgenic pollen on foliage of surrounding
wild vegetation
• Vector-mediated horizontal gene transfer and recombination to create new
pathogenic organisms
• The spread of transgenic crops threatens crop diversity by promoting
monocultures which leads to environmental simplification and genetic
erosion
• The Basic objective of this research is to see:
• The impact of biotechnology on the agriculture of Pakistan.
• The reduction in environmental damage by using biotechnology.
• The increase in productivity using existing resources with biotechnology.
• To access the environmental damage in indirect method by increase of
productivity using existing resources.
• Indicators used are:
• Agricultural output
• Land use
• Farm income
• Environmental indicators:
• Nutrient management
• Whole farm management
• Soil and land management
• Irrigation and water management
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF AGRICULTURE INDICATORS
• Soil quality
• Land conservation
• Greenhouse gases
• Water quality
• Biodiversity
• Wildlife habitats
 Significance of Use Of Agricultural Biotechnology
For Policy Makers And Business Managers
• Agricultural biotechnology offers a number of important environmental
benefits. The use of modern biotechnology has opened new
frontiers for the world community. This has helped in reducing the
need to increase the area of the earth given over to agriculture by
increasing the productivity of current land use. Have promoted
minimal tillage thus reduce fuel use and greenhouse gases whilst
reducing soil erosion. Helping to reduce green house gas emissions
through the delivery of a sustainable biofuels market, fuelling
future transportation needs. Helping farmers adapt to the changing
climate by producing crops with improved drought, stress, and salt
and low-nitrogen tolerance. Increase the yield while reducing the
need for production inputs. Increase the yield through improving
the crop quality. Grow energy crops in areas with marginal
conditions e.g. drought, saline soils. Develop efficient micro-
organisms and enzymes to convert the cellulose in the crops to
sugars, which can them be fermented into biofuels and convert
agricultural waste into biofuels.
• These are some of the features that Pakistan can benefit from. The
case of BT Cotton is in front of every one. The USA, China and India
have potentially reduced the use of pesticide by more than 70, 50
and 30 percent respectively by adopting to BT cotton. This has
given significant economic benefits along with increase in yields
due to less damage caused by pest attacks. The economic benefits
are enormous as it has increased almost double the yield than
before. This has also reduced the environmental damage caused by
use of pesticide and has reduced the burden on existing resources.
• Pakistan being a cotton rich country can significantly enhance the
overall yield of the cotton crop. This can have very high results
for the farming community as this will increase farm incomes
significantly and lead to less environmental degradation. The
enhanced income will help in millions get out of poverty.
Pakistan economy is totally dependent on this one crop alone,
so taking example of Indian economy. Pakistan should also
adopt the use of Biotechnology technology for significant
improvement in economic as well as environmental well being
of its citizens.

•
 Analysis
• The Basic objective of this research is to see:
• The impact of biotechnology on the agriculture of Pakistan.
• The reduction in environmental damage by using biotechnology.
• The increase in productivity using existing resources with biotechnology.
• To access the environmental damage in indirect method by increase of
productivity using existing resources.
• Hypothesis for the use of biotechnology is
• H0: Productivity increase using existing resources leads to decrease in
environmental damage.
• H1: Productivity increase using existing resources does not leads to
decrease in environmental damage.
• Dependent variable:
• Productivity (B0)
• Independent variables are:
• Fertilizer usage (B1)
• Pesticide usage (B2)
• Area under cultivation (B3)
• Water availability (B4)
 Case for BT cotton
• This single crop is used to test the above hypothesis.
For testing this hypothesis the cotton crop has been
selected.
• Pakistan’s per acre yield continues to remain below
the world average. It grows cotton on 3.2 million
hectares, yet the total production has fluctuated
around a meager 12 million (170 kg) bales during
the last decade, leaving a shortfall of 2-3 million in
domestic consumption every year. This places a
heavy burden on cotton growers and the textile
industry.
• Production is variable from year to year at 12 million
bales (170 kg) or less while consumption is at 15
million bales. This leaves a shortfall of around 3
million bales of cotton lint which has to be imported
each year to satisfy the demand of the Pakistan
spinning industry. The cost of these raw cotton
imports and the oil and meal forgone if the cotton
could have been grown in Pakistan, is around US $
• Now pushing the concept of potential yield increases a little
further, what if yield can be increased 67% to 30 mounds
average which would produce 19.5 million bales. This is an
extra 7.8 million bales of cotton production which would give
Pakistani cotton farmers an extra US$ 2-2.5 billion per year.
Prior to the introduction of Bt cotton in India in 2003, India had
the world’s lowest average yield (302 kg lint/ha in 2002) and
was importing cotton lint to meet mill demand. Within 5 years,
average yield had increased 88% to 567 kg lint/h and India is
now the world’s second biggest cotton exporter .
• Pakistan total yield losses are somewhere in the range of 8-10
million bales. On top of that, improved crop management
techniques could add an extra 2-3 million bales, making a
grand total of an extra 10-13 million bales per year, if all of
Pakistan’s cotton production problems could be solved.
• This data clearly shows that the use of biotechnology
reduced pesticide, chemical and organic fertilizer as
well as labor inputs while increasing yields. The
environmental benefits are direct as well as indirect.
This has reduced the pressure on new resources
without putting pressure on the existing resources.
It has indirectly also lead to less green house
emissions by reduced tractor usage. Pesticide
reduction by almost 50%.
•
• This data taken from the Indian market also
supports this argument.
• The use of BT cotton has had most positive
impact on the environment. The Herbicide
tolerant, bollworm resistant, draught resistant
and viral infection resistance has helped
change the cotton landscape of the world.
Yields have increased but the environmental
benefits have increased the most. The
increased yield have a socio economic impact
on the poor and has helped in the reduction
of poverty amongst the farming community.
• Rapid adaption of biotechnology will help
Pakistan reduce its overall agricultural
negative environmental footprint.
 Literature review
• The article selected for the literature review is the “microbiological conversion of waste fruits and vegetables
into ethanol” written by Ahlam Abdul Wahab Sallam Saeed of the Punjab University.
• This article focuses on the microbiological conversion of waste fruits produced during the post harvest
losses, transportation, and storage and handling losses. These wastes are produced by the inefficient
farm to market mechanism and are responsible for significant post harvest losses.
• Ethanol is an important fuel for the future because of its renewable nature and has an important
environmental impact as well. Exhaustion of non renewable sources and environmental damage caused
by conventional fuels societies are increasingly changing the use of these non renewable sources of
energy. The adoption of bio fuels as potential alternate to conventional fuels is an important step to
reduce the carbon foot print. Ethanol emerges as a prime candidate for the alternate fuel for its eco
friendly role and nature.
• The waste produced in the agriculture is a significant contributor of green house gases. In the land fill sites
they are the single most potent component for the release of methane in the air a gas 20 times more
potent than the carbon dioxide. The waste nutrient rich in locked five and six carbon sugars is an ideal
mixture as the feed stock for the microbiological conversion of the agricultural waste into ethanol. This
potential source of energy is wasted every year instead new resources are generated for ethanol
conversion. The sludge left behind is an excellent medium for the substitution of chemical fertilizer with
organic fertilizer. The sludge can be easily converted into organic fertilizer.
• The problem of microorganism death by the use of contaminated or mixed sources of sugars can be
overcome by the bioengineered microorganism that are more stress resilient and able to work in a
variable set of environment. Difficulty in ethanol conversion is mainly from the breakdown of cellulose
into the organic material. But the use of modern biotechnology offers help in this regards. The
microorganisms are bio engineered and then incorporated resistant and enzyme suitable genes for the
conversion of organic waste to ethanol.
• Pakistan can benefit from this technology by reducing the use of fossil fuels by this technique. The ethanol
can first be blended with petrol and used as a viable alternative. Latter on this fuel can be used in larger
proportion to reduce the overall carbon foot print of modern world. There would be indirect gains as well
as the sludge left behind will still be suitable for the manufacturing of bio fertilizer thus reducing the use
of chemical based fertilizer.
• The farming community will benefit by getting a marginal price for the fruits and vegetables lost during post
harvest. This can also be the start of a new eco friendly industry. Future research might help in the use
of grasses for ethanol conversion. The conversion processes was carefully noted and continues
improvements were incorporated for the efficient ethanol conversion.
 Conclusion and Policy
recommendation
• Pakistan taking example of the success of the Indian
cotton market should also incorporate the use of
biotechnology. The direct benefits from a single crop
was analyzed in this frame work . But the benefits
of using this technique are not limited to cotton
alone wheat and rice also show similar success
stories.
• Pakistan can benefit by
• The use of Fewer Pesticides
• Reduced Soil Erosion
• More Food, Lower Costs
• More Efficient Use of Farmland
• Fight Disease, Better Nutrition
• The policy should be the rapid adoption of this
technology because of its environmental friendly
role compared to the use of chemical agriculture.
 References
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• Wilson, Michael A., John A. Hillman, and David J. Robinson. “Genetic Modification in Context and
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• http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102003/29
• Future Of Biotechnology In India
By Farah Aziz & Suman Sahai
•