In secondary school, if you took agricultural science in junior secondary, you would have seen this phrase “new varieties” of crops. New varieties are crops which are engineered to be resilient to harsh environments, pests, diseases, etc. The black pod disease of cocoa caused by a phytophthora species of fungus was a common example of diseases which must be handled. How did they solve that problem? They engineered new varieties.
In cassava, the cassava mosaic disease from a begomovirus triggered near-famine in most parts of Eastern Nigeria in late 1980s just as SAP was coming along, as cassava stems turned white and tubers became like “loaf of bread”. How did they solve it? They engineered new varieties. What they did that time was the government at its best on agriculture policy.
The town crier went around the village, and dropped a very important message: the Ovim people would be receiving new varieties of cassava stem from the Ulonna Farm Settlement, near Umuahia. They also read the news in churches across the community.
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On the d-day, people stationed in Oriendu Market, to receive the stems. The trucks arrived – and the future began to load. Yes, the new varieties of cassava stem are here and time for evolved farming. Within 18 months, all the old species were replaced, and hope returned. Magically, the cassava mosaic disease was history. It was a great moment and people saw the power of governments as those new varieties came from the government.
So, what is the noise about GMO foods in Nigeria? It is just a nomenclature. Nigerians have been doing these things. It is just that their names have been Kanu, Kehinde, Effiong, Amadu, etc and no one has cared. But because this is coming from outside the nation, it is an issue. The real shame is that Nigeria has to pay for these new things when we used to engineer these things in Nigeria. IITA Ibadan has more technical capacity than any Institute in the US and Europe on tropical crops; they just need funding.
In 1970 during a cholera outbreak, the vaccine used to handle that was developed and approved by WHO by Prof Njoku Obi. So, from vaccines to new varieties of cassava which seem like NEW wonders now, men and women did these things decades ago in Nigeria. GMO is one way of creating new varieties of crops; others are molecular markers, phenotyping, and flowering innovations, as per agric science in WAEC. Check, in all, you modify.
I picked this from IITA Ibadan which is the leader in the world on cassava: “In 2020, IITA and Nigeria’s National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) released five new cassava varieties using genomics-assisted breeding, including genomic selection and genotyping. This technique accelerated the breeding cycle and resulted in improved varieties.” Yes, they do GMO and IITA has been shipping new varieties, and we have been consuming these crops for ages.
Can someone explain what has changed? I personally think that Nigerians should focus on making sure that science is safe instead of this “ban” here and there, because everything has since been modified! Lechi, my grandmother, believed in the purity of her “Nka”, “Obiaturugo”, “Mbala”, “Idima”, etc (these are names of different varieties of yams in Igbo), but I convinced her to use inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15-15-15) as my agric science teacher had taught in school , and when she experienced the impact, she became a believer. So, we must be careful NOT to take science down on this ban crusade.
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Nigeria’s GMO Foods Debate And Why Our Experts Should Lead It
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This is your opinion!
You have not a single clue what you’re up against with this GMO foods. This is not just pest resistance Seeds but also crop resistant – YES, CROP RESISTANT.
It’s not just engineered, but manipulated to recondition you, restructure your entire generic, this good csn change your genetic structure i mean CHANGE YOUR DNA, they’re nano materials that can grow with the seed face to stem and harvest, through the processing & cooking phase to consumption. The are MRNA particles, they can’t die. It’s the same vaccine they gave you during COVID vaccination that’s been substructure into your food cultivation process, targeted to get to you.
This is the work of some delusional, dementia Rich and global psychopaths in high places that’s bribing your weak and broke government to destroy their farms and depend on only them for food.
Why that’s teaching Pseudo-agric science here now, thinking that these variants of food are just common new variety ask your self some common sense questions.
1. Why are they killing farmers who cultivate organic crops.
2. What are they destroying all the organic crops and farms
3. Why are we not cultivating our large expands of good lands instead of feeding the nation with these poison as replacements for our safe food.
Are you aware also that your government has an NDA agreement and if these your Tela Maize Nigeria kills millions of Nigerians now, our government can’t hold them responsible.
Let’s thrive with caution!
You’ve said it all my brother. Mosanto and their GMO crops have been banned in many countries even some African countries. It is now Naija (dumping ground) want to embrace it.
Nigeria we “fail” thee…
These GMO crops are designed to rob farmers of crop sovereignty. You can’t just save from today’s harvest and plant at next year’s planting season. One MUST need to back to the foreign company’s shop to buy new seeds for current planting. This places our food security in the hands of foreigners, who can use such control to take over government and the economy if the GMO supply multinational company so desires. This besides further impoverishing local peasant and subsistence farmers who to annually buy GMO seeds at increased prices far beyond what they can afford, and who dominate Nigeria’s upstream food supply chain.
Say no to imported gmo crops and animals, if we have all these tropical agricultural schools, why should we go for any varieties from foreign companies, why not fund our institutions to develop a new good varieties for us that safe for local varieties and good for our environment and good for our consumption
GMO crops disrupt the natural process of gene flow because the “better” traits produced from engineering genes can result in the favouring of one organism.
Cost of cultivation is increased.
It endangers farmers and trade along with the environment.
The main concerns around GMOs involve allergies, cancer, and environmental issues — all of which may affect the consumer. While current research suggests few risks, more long-term research is needed.