Agric & Biotech

The Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) on Thursday, November 22, 2018 said that it had developed 16 new banana varieties, which are resilient to drought and diseases, billed to revolutionise the crop in the east African nation. Daud Mbongo, a researcher from the Institute of Uyole centre in south-western Tanzania’s region of Mbeya, said that the banana varieties were developed ...

Civil Society on Monday, November 19, 2018 at the ongoing United Nations Convention on Biodiversity Conference of Parties (COP 24) in Egypt, called on African and all other delegates to apply caution on the issue of synthetic biology (synbio) and gene drive organisms (GDOs), saying that delegates from the continent are not adequately representing the continent’s interest at the summit. ...

The GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and over 35 other civil society organisations have condemned efforts by government and biotech corporations to persuade Nigerians to accept agricultural biotechnology, even as they denounce the registration and release of genetically modified (GM) cotton varieties (Maycho C567 BG II and Maycho C571 BG II) into the country. The Federal ...

The Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN), Owerri Archdiocese, in a recent statement warns against the release of genetically modified mosquitoes and risk of infertility of people in West Africa Malaria is a serious public health issue, affecting millions of people annually. Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. Fortunately, since 2000, the ...

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) says it welcomes the decision of the South African biosafety authorities rejecting Monsanto’s application for the commercial release or its genetically modified (GM) drought tolerant triple stacked maize: MON 87460 x MON 89034 x NK 603. At its meeting on October 2, 2018, the Executive Council: GMO Act, refused to authorise the GM maize for commercial ...

The Programme Coordinator, ActionAid Nigeria, Mr Azubike Nwokoye, on Thursday, November 15, 2018 called on the Federal Government to strengthen agricultural extension services in the country. Nwokoye told newsmen in Abuja that plans by the government to distribute drought-resistant seeds to farmers might not yield the desired results without technical support to the farmers. The ActionAid coordinator emphasised that agricultural ...

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 raised an alarm of impending armyworm invasion of maize and rice plantations in the country. FAO said in its November Situation Report that the invasion of the Fall Army Worm (FAW) would ravage farmlands affecting an estimated 1.5 million farming households. The fact sheet indicated that the Spodoptera Frugiperda, ...

Whenever agricultural related stakeholders, particularly farmers, are invited to a workshop or forum, they attend in great anticipation – to get answers to all kinds of problems plaguing their activities. So, at one such forums in Cape Coast organised by the Ghana Chapter of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Africa, one farmer came with the hope of ...

An agricultural firm, Value Seeds Ltd., has urged local farmers to cultivate Vitamin A fortified seeds to boost nutritious diet and food security in the country. Spokesperson for the firm, Ms Mercy Essien, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 in Lagos. Essien said that the cultivation of hybrid ...

An official of the Cross River State Government, Dr Edu Effiom, on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 commended communities that voluntarily donated lands for the establishment of woodlots in the state. Effiom, the state’s Focal Person for the Project, made the commendation while conducting the project’s Steering Committee round some of the plantations in Calabar Municipality. Wikipedia defines a woodlot as a parcel ...