Agriculture
Expert Harps On Genetically Modified Crops
Genetically Modified Crops (GMC) can be used to lure the youth to agriculture, Prof Solomon Bamidle , Director-General of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), has said.
Solomon said this in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the biotechnology study tour of the United States and the 12th edition of the International Symposium on Genetically Modified Organisms.
He attributed the unwillingness of the youth to engage in farming to the laborious nature of conventional agriculture.
The director-general said with genetically modified crops, farming would be much easier and cheaper.
He said the youth preferred white collar jobs to farming because they were lazy, a development which he said, had become a global issue.
“For Nigeria, the problem of not getting our youths to go into agriculture can be addressed by the use of GMO.
“If we have the herbicide-tolerant maize for example, the herbicide-tolerant soya beans whereby our people do not need to weed.
“Even to cut the grass around their homes is a problem now, they use the herbicide to kill grass how much more when you talk about having huge hectares.
“So I can now decide that I want to have a white collar job than being a farmer because I will not sweat unnecessarily.
“The other is on the aspect of pest resistance: a lot of money go into buying these chemicals if we can eliminate those, then we can farm of course cheaper.
“Of course it’s going to give us opportunity to spare some money: at the end the pest would not destroy the crop so you get a higher yield: you are not sharing your yield with the pest. With these, a lot can then come in.”
Solomon also spoke on the effect of not passing the Bio-safety Bill.
“Not having the bill passed is making us short-change ourselves because the Direct Foreign Investment, which our government and our people so much need is not flowing.”
Federal Government and the Ogun State Government, on Wednesday, distributed farm inputs to farmers as part of effort to address food security challenge.
The State Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Toyin Ayo-Ajayi, during the flag-off ceremony of Inputs Redemption Under The National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP), in Ogun State, disclosed that beneficiaries of the gesture were primarily rice, maize and cassava farmers across the State.
Ayo-Ajayi commended the Ogun State Government for partnering with the government at the centre for the effort in supporting farmers with inputs that would bring about yieldings for local consumption and likely exportation.
She noted that government is supporting rice, cassava and maize farmers with inputs worth N212,000; N189,000 and N186,000 respectively.
The Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Kehinde Jokotoye, who represented the Commissioner in the Ministry, Bolu Owotomo, stated that traditional farmers are critical in food production, hence the need to encourage and support them with inputs that would bring about desired results during harvesting.
Owotomo said: “Let us make good use of this opportunity, so that the success of this phase will make farmers benefit more from the state and federal governments of Nigeria.”
Earlier, State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Oluwatoyin Ayo-Ajayi, appreciated the present administration for partnering with the federal government for the initiative, adding that the programme is designed to support farmers at the grassroots level in cassava, rice and maize with inputs such as, seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, to boost their production and enhance their livelihood.