Farmers’ body seeks nationwide GMO ban after govt allows commercial GM corn cultivation

According to Profit, the Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee (PKRC) wants genetically modified organisms barred across the country, covering their growing, selling, importing and commercial use. The farmers' group is responding to a 31 August decision by a committee formed by the prime minister to allow commercial planting of GM corn. Officials had framed the move as a route to modern farming and to letting GM and conventional varieties exist side by side.

The PKRC argues that seeds have long been kept and shared by farmers, and that corporate patenting could tie growers to multinational suppliers. The group believes three frameworks, the 2015 Seed Act amendment, the 2016 Plant Breeders' Rights Act and the 2024 National Seed Policy, could deepen yearly reliance on overseas seed firms. The group also rejects the view that GM and non-GM crops can coexist safely, warning that pollen transfer could affect traditional varieties and local biodiversity.

Export access is another concern, as the PKRC says markets such as the European Union, China, Australia and New Zealand enforce strict non-GMO standards. The body wants an immediate and permanent halt to GMO releases, sales and corporate licensing, along with stronger legal protection for indigenous seeds and farmers' rights to save and re-sow them.