Agric & Biotech

 The Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba, has emerged as the interim Chairman of the newly established African Union Biosafety Regulators Forum. Dr Rufus Ebegba Ebegba’s emergence was part of the resolutions reached at the end of a training organised by the African Union and African Union Development Agency, NEPAD, on genome edition and the post ...

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance and 43 other civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to reject the application by the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike for field trial of cassava, genetically modified to express elevated levels of Iron and Zinc in the storage roots and high resistance to ...

As part of the plan to ensure food security across Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 launched the Maize Compact of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) in Maputo, Mozambique. AFDB president, Akinwunmi Adesina The launch forms part of the AfDB plan to scale out water-efficient and climate smart Maize technologies in 14 African ...

New research by an international group of scientists, from Inland Norway University, Bioversity International, Wageningen University and World Agroforestry, examines whether incorporating suitable trees into crop systems or replacing coffee with cocoa could help the thousands of families in Mesoamerica meet future climate conditions Harvesting cocoa Global demand for coffee and cocoa is on the rise. Yet across the equatorial belt ...

An agricultural engineering method which includes the artificial inclusion of a new (and most times greater) trait to plants as opposed to the traditional crossbreeding is called GMO, an acronym which stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. Genetically Modified or GM plants are those that have been processed in a laboratory in order to make them resistant to disease, pest and ...

One of the main research efforts of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, over the last 10 years has been to combat the menace of a destructive insect that affects cowpea production in Nigeria. The insect is called Maruca pod borer and is known to cause up to 80% yield loss in cowpea fields. Cowpea The ...

The Principal Programme Officer for African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) of African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), Mr. Sam Timpo, has said that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), which is the national competent authority on biosafety in Nigeria, is always counted on as a leader in biosafety matters in Africa. Director-General and CEO ...

Major actors of the seed industry in West Africa will meet in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, from June 11 to 12, 2019 to assess progress made in the implementation of the harmonised regional seed regulation. Hybrid seeds The Harmonised Regional Seed Regulation was adopted in 2008 by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in 2009 by the ...

Students of agriculture have again called for a ban on products of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria. This call was made at the recent Dialogue organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) with the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Abuja, on Monday, June 3, 2019. Participants at the Dialogue In attendance at the Dialogue were the Dean, Assistant ...

The Cross River State Government has directed beneficiaries of 2016-2019 cocoa lease allocation who are yet to pay their lease fees to clear such debts before June 21, 2019 to avoid possible sanctions. Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State Dr Oscar Ofuka, acting Chairman, Cross River State Cocoa Board, gave the directive via a statement made available to newsmen ...