Biotech Updates

Improved Bean Variety to be Released in Nigeria

December 19, 2012

An improved variety of bean that is resistant to cowpea disease was developed by scientists from the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), in collaboration with Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). The cowpea disease inflicts severe damage to cowpea, leading to yield loss of up to 70-80 percent.

According to Mohammad Ishiyaku, principal investigator of the project at the Institute for Agriculture Research (IAR) in ABU, the research is a result of plant breeding and gene modification in agriculture and it is not known to have any side effects or implication on health or the environment. He added that as the largest producer and consumer of cowpea, the development of the said resistant beans variety in Nigeria, which will be released before 2017, is a great breakthrough which local farmers can now benefit from.

See the original article at http://allafrica.com/stories/201212121088.html.