Putting All Our Eggs In One Basket: The Reality Of PM Sahab's Sought After AgroTech Revolution

Remember the Donkey Meat Panic?

Remember when everyone was worried that the beef burger they were eating was probably a donkey burger? Not to mention that a 50-rupee shawarma was probably that cheap because the chicken had already died. Pakistanis are not new to mass meat crises, so it comes as no surprise that Bill Gates’ Impossible Meat venture, which produces 100 percent synthetic meat, would not deter the hunger of our food-motivated nation.

Is Pakistan’s Chicken Full of Hormones?

Pakistanis have long been discussing their own poultry industry. People say the chicken is pumped full of hormones and that a chick grows to full size in a week. This claim is believed to be false, but the fact is that desi chickens take months to grow to full size, while the “farmi” breed takes a little less than a month. The truth is, Pakistan is too poor for those hormones.

Is Pakistan Too Poor to Feed Its Own People?

Pakistan is actually too poor to feed its own people, much less its chickens. PM sahab is roaming around like a headless chicken, clucking desperately to Field Marshal sahab for population control and to Bill Gates to bring about his agrotech revolution.

What Does Bill Gates Have to Do With Pakistan’s Agriculture?

Pakistan has always promoted GMO crops. The Gates Foundation has funded agricultural development in Pakistan (and globally), in areas like wheat research, seed systems, livestock and ag-tech, through partners. “Agriculture revolution,” mechanization, seed improvement and digital agriculture are recurring themes in PM sahab’s government’s rhetoric.

Shehbaz Sharif and Bill Gates have met and spoken multiple times, in person and by phone, mainly about polio eradication, vaccination and health funding in Pakistan. A phone call between them in February 2026 discussed Gates Foundation support for immunization, nutrition, financial inclusion and the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

But here’s Bill’s view on agritech: “I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef.” Bill Gates is heavily investing in synthetic meat. Yeah. Lab-grown meat, no animals involved.

Where Did Lab-Grown Meat Come From?

Guess where and when lab-grown meat was first grown. The earliest documented effort to produce “synthetic meat” occurred in 1949, in the newly established State of Israel. The pioneer was chemist Professor Bernhard Frankel, who announced the invention of “synthetic meat” in November of that year.

Israel launched the National Bioconvergence Program in 2022, planning to invest approximately $400 million over ten years, with alternative proteins as a core focus area. The Israel Innovation Authority has also established a dedicated cultivated meat consortium to support research and development.

In 2024, Israel became the first country in the world to approve the sale of cultivated beef to the public, a landmark regulatory breakthrough.

Are GMOs Bad for You?

The question is: are GMOs bad for you?

GMOs are not inherently “bad.” The scientific consensus is that approved GM foods are as safe to eat as conventional ones, with major reviews finding no link to cancer or other health harms. For farmers, the benefits are practical and measurable: insect-resistant crops like Bt cotton and Bt brinjal have cut pesticide use by 30-50% and raised yields and incomes, especially for smallholders. Environmentally, the picture is mixed. Reduced spraying and less plowing lower emissions, but widespread herbicide use has bred resistant weeds and pests, eroding those gains over time. The real issue isn’t the technology itself but how it’s regulated, priced and managed, which is why the legitimate critique isn’t “GMOs are poison” but rather corporate dependency, weak oversight and uneven benefits, the same concerns that apply to Pakistan’s GM push and its reliance on foreign seed companies.

A biologist put it aptly:

“I am, broadly speaking, pro-GMO. There simply cannot be any doubt that the technology has saved a fuckton of lives. From the manufacture of medicine to staving off the loss of food crops due to disease to increasing nutritional value of crops, it just saves human lives. Even the original purpose of herbicide resistance was great! Unfortunately, it backfired horribly. So. Not in favor of that particular flavor of GMO anymore, personally. Not without some serious proof of concept, at least. The technology itself certainly isn’t evil. That said, some of the people who weild it…”

Why Are Pakistani Farmers Against the Imported Agritech Revolution?

As for Pakistan, farmers’ organizations, rice exporters and local seed companies strongly oppose Pakistan’s imported agritech revolution, arguing that it would lead to the “corporate takeover of Pakistan’s seed, agricultural and food sovereignty” and threaten non-GMO export markets. Local seed industry representatives also explicitly warned that over-reliance on imported seeds would leave Pakistan vulnerable when foreign supply chains are disrupted.

Population control or not, PM sahab is putting his eggs into very dangerous baskets.