Biosafety guidelines validation to revive production of high-quality cotton in Nigeria – NBMA
NAN-AE-7
Validation
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, June 13, 2017 (NAN) The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) says the validation of its biosafety guidelines will culminate in the production of first set of genetically modified cotton, known as Bt. Cotton, by 2019.
Dr Rufus Ebegba, the Director-General of NBMA, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
“Since 2016, so far we have got two commercial releases of Bt. Cotton that have been processed and approved.
“The decision to deploy the technology was taken after a careful and extensive examination of the sorry state of cotton production in the country.
“About 40 years ago, Nigeria was rated as one of the cotton destinations in the world, where high-quality cotton of high value was available.
“But that reputation has been replaced with an abysmal record that has even made Nigerian cotton a laughing stock in the global market.
“Cottons from Nigeria are said to be contaminated, with low yield and at best, farmers can only get less than half a tonne per hectare, while their counterparts in other parts of the world are experiencing bumper harvests.
“Textile industries, which used to be one of the largest employers of labour in both northern and southern Nigeria, are today under lock and key due to the lack of raw materials.
“This has made Nigeria the dumping ground for substandard textile materials; therefore, scientists and government agencies are now collaborating to solve the challenges which had plagued the country’s cotton.’’
He said that Monstanto Company was recently granted approval to make input to the development of the country’s agricultural sector by leading efforts to introduce genetically modified cotton into the country.
“The release permit granted to Monstanto means that the government can work in collaboration with research institutions in the country to conduct research for the development of special cotton seeds.
“These seeds can resist insects and confront the challenges that made our local cotton unproductive but we are not trading in genetically modified seeds or products,’’ he said. (NAN)
EPA/MOL/OOK
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi and Dayo Komolafe