Agriculture
By Grace Yussuf
THE benefits of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in agriculture for sustainable food production and improved food security came to the fore at the recently concluded International Conference on Biotechnology 2024 (ICoB24) in Abuja.
The conference, which was held from July 15th to July 19th, had experts from various fields of agriculture bringing their expertise to bear on the need for Nigeria to develop more researches on GMOs to make genetically modified crops safer for consumption.
This is amidst criticisms and opponents of GMOs who have variously expressed their reservation about the safety of such crops.
Many scientists and environmentalists, who are against it are concerned about its adverse effects on human health
However, some scientists said there had not been proofs that GMO foods are harmful to the health but research is ongoing to this effect.
Some of the concerns are that GMO foods cause allergic reactions to the body; it is carcinogenic and has the ability for one to become antibacterial resistance, among others.
All these concerns have been allayed severally by the World Health Organization (WHO), through some of its researches.
The conference’s subthemes included Agricultural Biotechnology, Industrial Biotechnology, Policy and Socioeconomics under Ethics, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Medical Biotechnology, among others.
They came into focus for participants to have better insights to the benefits of GMOs to the economy.
Prof.Terkimbi Vange, the National President, Plant Breeders Association of Nigeria (PBAN), acknowledged the vital role that Biotechnology played in Nigeria “as the world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050.’’
Prof. Vange noted that conventional agricultural methods alone cannot meet the increasing demand without causing significant environmental damage’’. Therefore, biotechnology has become an essential component in addressing these challenges,’’ he said.
The United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS), however, commended Nigeria for the achievements it has recorded in biotechnology development.
The USDA said Nigeria has shown capacity with the deployment of biotechnology crops such as the recently launched TELA maize.
The acting counsellor, USDA FAS, Mr. Chris Bielecki, made this known at the “Sharing is Believing” Biotechnology Outreach Workshop, which was one of the activities at the 2024 International Conference on Biotechnology.
Bielecki encouraged scientists, researchers, policymakers, and regulators to share their experiments and researches with specific crops.
“This international conference on biotechnology is really about sharing and believing because when you launch something, you might believe it halfway, but when you have to share it with other people, it is something that you really have to know deeply.
Representing the USDA, I am willing to share what the USDA is doing regarding biotechnology regulation and agricultural trade and production.’’ Also, the Director General of the National Biotechnology Research Development Agency (NBRDA), Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, said that the theme: “Sharing is Believing” resonated deeply in biotechnology, where collaboration and knowledge sharing were essential. He said the advancement of biotechnology alone required concerted efforts from governments, research institutions, private sector stakeholders, and the global community. ”At NABDA, we champion collaborative research and open exchange of knowledge to drive biotechnology development and application, improve lives, and contribute to the global knowledge economy.
International cooperation has led to significant breakthroughs, such as the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. This reinforces our belief that sharing knowledge and resources is imperative.
”Today, let us embrace the spirit of collaboration, explore new avenues for cooperation, identify common goals, and work towards sustainable solutions to pressing challenges”.
In her contribution, the Director, Agricultural Biotechnology Department, NBRDA, Dr. Rose Gidado, noted that in recognition of Nigeria’s sustained leadership in biotechnology, the outreach project would allow stakeholders to review their successes, share policies, regulations, and best practices, adding that “this has made success stories possible’’.
She explained that the project would provide a platform for sharing advances, challenges, and next steps across various projects and their development stages, fostering a comprehensive approach to leveraging biotechnology for sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria.
The controversial GMO TELA maize received a boost recently as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Abdulahi commended its release, saying this is part of President Tinubu’s agenda to improve food security in the country
The minister described the crop as being more acceptable by Nigerians, saying this was due to the federal government’s massive investment in the crop.
According to him, this will assuage the current food scarcity and inflation, while describing the Federal Government’s research investment in the crop as renewed hope maize’’. The issue with TELA maize is that it is high yielding. Which means the present yield farmers are making will be more than double.From two to three tons. We are going to get upwards of nine to ten tons. That explains why we went into this research in the first instance. So we are able to guarantee sustainable production of maize year on and year off.’’
Abdulahi said the ministry was committed to making the crop available to Nigerians.I would like to say that the president actually understands the value of seed, and that is why in his manifesto he saidfeed an entire nation’’ .
Following the release of Hybrid TELA Maize recently, the social media went virile with the picture of the TELA maize, urging every human being to kick out the maize from their lives and environment with holy anger’’. This is the so called TELA Maize. Show it to our farmers in the village, and to our relatives. These bags must return to Bill Gates family in America. Say No to genetically modified seeds.’’ The statement was signed by one Ndi Uchu.
However, the All Farmers Association Nigeria (AFAN), at the conference, reiterated the commitment of farmers to adopt biotechnology as means of contributing to food security and wealth creation.
The Vice President of AFAN, Chief Daniel Okafor made this known while refuting a report credited to AFAN, saying that farmers had rejected the newly launched transgenic maize variety called TELA.
He said that Nigerian farmers cannot shy away from a technology that is capable of increasing agricultural yield. Okafor is also the National President, Potato Farmers Association of Nigeria (POFAN). According to him, now that Nigeria is currently faced with food insecurity amidst growing population, therefore, drastic measures are needed to meet local food demands.
Currently, among the countries growing GMO crops are the USA (70.9 Million Hectares (Mha), Brazil (44.2 Mha), India (11.6Mha), and Canada (11 Mha) are the largest users. Other countries growing GMO crops are Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Chile, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Honduras, India (Bt cotton only) Malawi, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Slovakia, Spains, Sudan. eSwatini (Swaziland). The farming of GM crops has massively increased since the mid-1990s. In 1996, just 17 million hectares (Mha) were planted with GM crops globally, but by 2015, 179 Mha GM crops were grown, accounting for over 10% of the world’s arable land. (END) Ghana has been reported to be the latest African country to join the league of GMO crops producer, with the recent commercial release on Thursday, July 25, 2024, of its first ever biotech crop. The Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea (PBR Cowpea), which is developed to specifically resist what is biologically known as Maruca vitrata’’, which destroys yields by boring the pods.
The release of PBR Cowpea, a variety of black eye beans, follows 12 years of extensive regulatory, laboratory and field-testing processing by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Savanah Agriculture Research Institute (CSIR-SARI)’
It is under the PBR Cowpea Project – a public private partnership coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), to promote technological interventions that will optimize cowpea productivity and utilization in sub-Saharan Africa.
The DG of NBRD, Prof. Mustapha, at the closing of the 2024 edition of the conference, said his agency would continue to push for Nigeria’s development using biotechnology tools, research and innovation outputs.
He called on Nigerians to challenge the myths and retrogressive beliefs of nay-sayers on biotechnology crops and products.
He urged the public to embrace change as the agency through Nigerian scientists and scholars would patriotically work on towards creating a prosperous future for generation to come.
A.I
Aig. 9, 2024
Tags: GMO Foods International Conference on Biotechnology 2024 (ICoB24) Prof.Terkimbi Vange
