The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, has insisted that Africa must make technology the focal point of its agricultural development as the continent fights to avert hunger.
Africa presently faces the huge challenge of feeding it’s over one billion people in order to ensure food and nutritional security.
Addressing press after the Esting is Believing: Biotech Beans Advocacy Programme organized by the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), under the auspices of NABDA, in collaboration with AATF in Abuja on Friday, Mustapha said biotechnology has proven its potentials to help overcome agricultural productivity challenges leading to more yield such as the 2.9 tons /hectare of Bt cowpea from 350kg of non-Bt cowpea.
And it is addressing various breeding limitations that conventional breeding method cannot address.
“The PBR Cowpea is a classic example of how the technology can provide solutions to one of the major challenges confronting cowpea farming. Needless, I bother you with the long history of several attempts by cowpea breeders who tried to find solutions to ravaging attacks of Maruca.
“For many years without success in the past, however, this technology has taken care of that and its potentials to improve other crops have started emerging. Farmers in Nigeria are excited with the performance of this new variety and giving testimonies.
“With the commercialiazation, adoption and use of this new variety of Cowpea modeled to be resistant to insect maruca vitrata, it means revolutionizing Nigeria’s Food Production: Tremendous Yield, Quick Harvest, Bumper Harvest, non-shattering, good cooking characteristics,” he said.
According to him, a 20 per cent yield increase per hectare translates to N48,000, annually at N120,000 per tonne. He added that it will lead to reduction in the use of insecticide requirement on an hectare from 6-8 liter per hectare to 2-3 litere at N1200.0 per liter N5400.0 reduction in production cost per hectare planted with PBR Cowpea. Of the 3 million hectares 1million is planted to PBR Cowpea the savings from cost of insecticide is N16,200 annually.
“Farmers in African countries cannot attain the yield potentials of our popular legumes when compared to other parts of the world. While farmers in the Americas, West and Asia are getting over 10 tons per hectare for maize, our farmers are still struggling to attain 4 tons per hectare.
The place of science, technology and innovation in our quest for development in all sectors of the economy cannot be over emphasized. The feat attained with the development and commercialization of the PBR Cowpea has again proven that if determined, Africa has what it takes to solve its challenges. Remember that it is about food and nutritional security, wellbeing of our farmers, improved income, less use of chemical sprays for environmental sustainability,” he said.
