It is feared that this new law will further worsen the state of the country’s agriculture sector
SUKKUR: The passage of the Seed Act of 2014 in parliament could prove to be a death knell for local farmers. The law gives a lot of power to multinational corporations, which make seeds, especially for genetically-modified crops by allowing them copyright over their products. This means that poor farmers will have no option but to use the seeds made by these corporations and this will mean a reduction in their ability to choose the quantity and quality of seeds that they purchase for their crops.
The irony that the law was passed by legislators, many of whom happen to be landowners themselves and will be directly affected by the new rules, should not be lost on us. It is feared that this new law will further worsen the state of the country’s agriculture sector, which is already in a shambles and suffers from high levels of landlessness, unemployment and food insecurity.
Irshad Soomro
Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
