Government of Pakistan approved commercialization of biotech corn and cotton and field trials of biotech wheat

The National Biosafety Centre (NBC) under The Ministry of Climate Change held meetings of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) to review long pending applications of multiple biotech crops for lab work, field trials and commercialization submitted by public and private sector institutions and companies. 

 

Major crops include wheat (field trials), cotton (commercialization) and corn (commercialization), etc.  

 

In corn, NBC has approved commercialization of insect resistant and herbicide tolerant traits, whereas in cotton NBC has approved commercialization of insect resistant trait.

 

In this meeting, government has resumed the functioning of the biotech regulatory system. 

 

Pakistan government is optimistic that this initiative will bring about a better development in the field of agriculture.

 

The new technology will ensure Pakistan’s farmers to increase domestic corn productivity that could enable farmers to produce more to help meet the needs of the country’s domestic feed industry, and make the country a self-sufficient global contributor in agriculture.