The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) said it had concluded arrangements to sustain the gain of Nigeria’s first genetically modified crop variety, the Pod Borer Resistant cowpea with a second gene.
Mr Alex Abutu, Communication Officer of AATF, announced this on Sunday in a statement issued in Abuja.
Abutu said AATF facilitated the environmental release of the first generation of PBR Cowpea in 2019 after one decade of confined and on-farm trials by the Institute of Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He said Dr Jean Bapsite, AATF Regional Representative for West Africa, during a courtesy call to the Director General, National Biosafety Management Agency, said unprecedented testimonies from farmers on the importance of the PBR cowpea had compelled the team to quickly work on the stacking of the gene.
Bapsite said this would help to protect the cowpea against any possible breakdown, saying “we continue to improve on our successes and leave no gap for any breakdown.
The Second gene will strengthen, reinforce, and increase the resistance level of the PBR Cowpea against any attack.
” The PBR Cowpea was commercially released to farmers in 2021 and it is currently being planted all over the country with farmers counting the gains of yield increase.
He said it had less use of chemical sprays and prolific fodder production, when compared to the conventional cowpea varieties.
The Director General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba, commended AATF and its partners for developing and releasing a crop variety that benefitted and enhanced the livelihood of farmers.
Ebegba informed the delegation that NBMA had continued to improve its application processes to conform with current scientific realities.
Science is not democracy. Our regulation is purely scientifically based and we shall not be moved by blackmail or emotions. The safety of Nigerians and the environment is our utmost interest.”
He, however, challenged African scientists to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that biotechnology offered to research more into the technology.
