In an era where globalisation is championed as a force of progress, developing nations like Pakistan and India find themselves ensnared in a corporate siege – a silent but potent conquest unfolding through the seedbeds of our agriculture.

The roots of this transformation lie in a single global accord: the TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), ratified under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995. While heralded as a tool to standardise intellectual property protections worldwide, TRIPS has paved the way for multinational corporations to monopolise seed systems and exert control over food production in the Global South. Traditionally, farmers in Pakistan, India, and much of the developing world have practised seed saving, sharing, and breeding-an ecosystem of resilience and biodiversity cultivated over centuries. TRIPS disrupted this legacy.

Once a farmer plants a patented GM seed, they’re locked into a cycle of purchasing associated pesticides, fertilisers, and new seeds each season, or face legal consequences.

By enforcing patentability for biotechnology and requiring countries to protect plant varieties either through patents or a sui generis system, TRIPS compelled signatory nations to embrace corporate seed models. In practice, this means genetically modified (GM) seeds-controlled and licensed by corporations like Bayer, Monsanto, and........

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