ABSTRACT
Agriculture has a significant contribution in the economy of Pakistan where a rapidly growing population depends on agriculture for its subsistence. The population is increasing but crop production is challenged with the changing climate. While conventional breeding has little success in evolving climate-resilient crop varieties to manage crop production, and biotechnology in the face of changing climate, it offers practical solutions for crop improvement, food production, and poverty alleviation. Different tissue culture laboratories were established at various academic and research institutions across the country in the 1980s for the clonal propagation of plants. However, more than 60 biotechnology institutes have been established by 2016 to carry out basic as well as applied biotechnological research in Pakistan. Though cotton has been given prime importance for its genetic improvement for insect-pest resistance, other crops, including sugarcane, rice, wheat, potato, tomato, groundnut, brassica, chickpea, chilies, and tobacco have also been genetically modified. Consequently, a number of GM crops are either under development stage or at field trial stage or grown at commercial levels. Despite the opposition of GM crops in the European countries, adoption of GM crops in developing countries is overwhelming. Genetically modified cotton such as Bt cotton in Pakistan, for example, without going into controversy whether developed legally or illegally, has covered more than 90% area under cotton cultivation. Major impediment to the commercial cultivation of indigenously developed GM crops is the inconsistent enforcement of biosafety rules, particularly after the 18th amendment of the constitution of Pakistan. Hence, implementation of biosafety rules is urgently needed in order to compete against the products of multinational companies (MNCs) in near future.
