Pakistan Hi-Tech Hybrid Seed Association Appeal: Stop GMO Maize Invasion

Issuer: Pakistan Hi-Tech Hybrid Seed Association (PHHSA). Urgent national appeal to federal leadership to halt approval and commercialization of GMO maize to protect seed sovereignty, farmer choice, and food security.

Purpose: To warn of irreversible risks from GMO maize contamination and to call for protection of Pakistan’s local seed sector and smallholder farmers.

Key points and actionable information:

- GMO contamination risk: Commercial cultivation of GMO maize risks uncontrollable cross-contamination with non-GMO crops; contamination once spread cannot be reversed.

- Federal guideline cited: A minimum 300-meter isolation distance between GMO and non-GMO maize is recommended, which the notice states is impractical given that roughly 90% of holdings are smaller than 5 acres.

- Consequences if GMO maize is commercialized: unavoidable cross-contamination; destruction of the hard-earned local seed sector (public and private); farmers forced to buy costly imported GMO seeds every season; increased herbicide costs and additional burdens on farmers.

- Seed sovereignty & food security concerns: Cross-contamination would undermine seed research and development, eliminate farmers’ freedom to choose seed, drive local seed companies out of business, threaten jobs, and compromise national food security.

- PHHSA position: Supports genuine innovation and technology that benefits farmers, but opposes GMO maize commercialization due to severe risk of cross-contamination and the threat to locally developed hybrid seed programs.

Recommended action: Protect smallholder growers and national seed sovereignty by rejecting commercialization of GMO maize until contamination risks can be fully and safely addressed.