Biotech Updates

GE Cowpea Seeds to be Available for Nigerian Farmers in 2019

December 7, 2016

Nigeria's National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) head announced that genetically engineered (GE) cowpea will be commercially available in the country on or before 2019. Prof. Lucy Ogbadu, NABDA Director General, mentioned this during the November meeting of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB). Prof. Ogbadu said that GE cowpea is currently under field trials and has shown positive results.

"Rules are being followed in its production. Our Ethical Committee is working day and night to ensure that no rule is breached. Nigerians should be assured that the GM beans and other crops which will be available later in the country would be safe for consumption. In 2-3 years' time, cowpea should be ready in commercial quantity in the country," Prof. Ogbadu said. She also stressed that GM foods are not unhealthy, highlighting the initiative of 100 Nobel Laureates who signed a petition to guarantee the safety of GE crops.

For more details, read from Daily Trust and NABDA.