Stakeholders urge swift PRA deals to help revive cotton sector
LAHORE: Cotton sector stakeholders have urged the federal government to prioritize and accelerate the signing of Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) agreements with major cotton-exporting nations, stressing that without these agreements Pakistan cannot import high-yielding cotton seed needed to revive the ailing crop.
Pakistan Hi-Tech Hybrid Seed Association (PHHSA) founding chairman Shahzad Ali Malik while talking to the Business Recorder on Tuesday appreciated the recent SROs lifting the ban on cotton seed imports, but cautioned that the real challenge now lies in swiftly completing PRA arrangements between Pakistan’s National Plant Protection Organization and its counterparts abroad.
Guard Agriculture Research & Services (GUARD)’s Executive Momin Ali Malik was also present during the conversation. He noted that although the department of plant protection has initiated the PRA procedures with Ethiopia, this alone is insufficient to meet Pakistan’s urgent requirements.
He emphasised that PRA signing must be immediately fast-tracked with the world’s leading cotton producers, including China, Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and the United States, so that seed importers can access a wider pool of high-performing germplasm. He warned that until these risk assessment agreements are in place, the country will continue to be locked out of genetically superior cotton varieties that could significantly bolster farm yields.
While acknowledging the lifting of the import ban as a positive step, Malik argued that the PRA delays could become the single biggest bottleneck in the seed import process. He said that the issue had been raised with the Ministry of National Food Security & Research by the PHHSA through a letter in recent past cautioning that even after PRA signing, Pakistan’s lengthy, multi-stage variety approval framework could push commercialization timelines well into the next decade. Under the current system, the approval process for non-GMO seed or GMO seed with an already-approved gene spans five years, while seed containing an unapproved gene or event requires seven years of trials - meaning new high-yielding varieties introduced today would not reach farmers before 2030–31, the letter mentioned.
The letter referred to the precedent of 2009, when the rapid spread of unapproved BT cotton across Punjab prompted federal and provincial authorities to relax approval protocols in the national interest. At that time, Bio safety Trials and National Uniform Yield Trials were conducted simultaneously, and the trial duration was reduced from two years to one. This allowed the Punjab Seed Council to approve nine BT varieties, including one hybrid, in March 2010 based on a single year of combined trials. The stakeholders suggested that a similar approach is once again needed.
Malik said through the letter it was also requested that, from 2026 onwards, Bio-security Trials, Bio safety Trials and NUYT evaluations be carried out concurrently, with trial durations shortened to one year. These relaxations, they argued, should be applied for the next five years to enable multiple companies to bring high-yielding cotton varieties into the country by 2027. However, they stressed that none of these reforms can take effect until PRA agreements with major exporting nations are finalized, making the signing of these risk assessment arrangements the most urgent step in the entire revival process.
He concluded that timely PRA signing, combined with fast-track approval mechanisms, is essential to restoring Pakistan’s cotton competitiveness, securing higher farmer profitability and reducing dependence on government support prices.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025