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Agricultural biotechnology, including genetically modified (GM) crop varieties, is being increasingly adopted in the Global South. Academic discussions on GM crops tend to be polarised, but increasing attention is being paid to local social and ecological dynamics. Adding to this scholarship, we investigate the little-researched case of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton in South Punjab, Pakistan, employing assemblage thinking to examine how complex interactions among social, ecological, and political factors shape the dynamics and outcomes of GM crop adoption. We draw on the concepts of territorialisation and deterritorialisation to understand the puzzling paradox of coexisting stable and unstable biotechnology dynamics observed in this case study. Drawing on ten months of fieldwork, the study reveals how the Bt cotton assemblage was driven by the declining status of cotton, the technology’s initial success, private breeders’ interests, and farmers’ willingness to adopt it. However, poor seed quality, climatic events, pest infestations, and pesticide ineffectiveness have led to a production crisis, disproportionately affecting smallholders struggling to withdraw from a weakened Bt cotton assemblage which continues to stay in place. The findings highlight that neither flaws in the technology nor its management fully explain these outcomes; rather, it is the interplay of factors within the assemblage. We call for further research to explore the changing roles of the factors and elements involved in the spread of GM crop technologies and their local outcomes, identifying critical intervention points to address the multifaceted risks faced by smallholder farmers in the Global South.
Zuberi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.