Pakistan
February 20, 2012

The farming community urged the government to approve the genetically modified (GM) corn, which is being planted successfully across the globe for commercial plantation in Pakistan.

During the meeting, which was held in Sahiwal, Monsanto Pakistan's senior officials answered the queries of farmers relating to biotechnology in general and company's GM corn product "VT Double Pro" in particular. It may be noted here that corn seeds have been genetically modified to have agronomic desirable traits.

Traits that have been engineered into corn include resistance to insect pests and herbicide tolerance. It means that GM corn makes a protein that kills various insect pests without the use of insecticides. Besides, it can also control the losses caused by weeds.

During the meeting, the farmers as well as media representatives were informed that the field trials of Monsanto Pakistan's GM corn product have been completed successfully and now only official approval by the government authorities was required to formally launch the product in Pakistan.

The farmers said that both insects and weeds cause considerable losses to corn crop. In this situation, they said, GM corn provides good solutions to the issues faced by them.

They urged the government to approve GM corn immediately so that Pakistani farmers could also have access to the best available agricultural technology.They also urged the media to play a proactive role for the promotion of modern crop technologies in Pakistan.

Website: http://www.pabic.com.pk

Published: February 20, 2012