Nat. Committee insists GMOs registration, registers new 15 varieties, with no GMO.

15 varieties

The National Committee on Varieties registration has restated that all the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) that would be released into Nigeria market must be duly registered by them in accordance to bio safety procedures just as they have registered and released about fifteen new improved crop varieties with none from the GMOs. 

All the members of the National Committee on the Naming, Registration and Release of crops varieties at the just concluded meeting at National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) in Ibadan have insisted that any GMO products in the country must be duly registered and released by them saying there is none of the products in circulation for now.

Members who are purely researchers and scientist from various Research Institutes and International Centres pointed that Nigerians must separate themselves from political aggrandizement that have been attached to the embracement of the improved technologies between Europe and America saying that Nigeria must not be left out in any agricultural and food improved technology that would enhance productivity and remove drudgery in farming occasioned by pest and diseases.

The scientists and other stakeholders assured Nigerians that there is no GMO in the circulations presently, pointed that the few ones around are still going through on farm trails in our National Research Institutes with hundred percent involvements of Nigeria researchers following the bio safety procedures adding all the gene characters development have put into consideration the nation’s ecologies adaptability following bio safety procedures.

One of the scientists said that “Presently there no commercial GMO products in the country. This is the reason why the gene character construction levels to ensure adaptation is done by scientists from our Research Institutes. For five years Prof. Ishiaku has been working on cowpea. We are actually doing the research here in Nigeria. No already commercialized GMO products are being brought into the country’s market. We are already developing ours here. Cowpea is about going on farm and very soon it would be registered by 2017. It is a collaborative effort and by 2017 we will have our own GMO products that will be safe for us”

Meanwhile, the National Committee has approved the release and registration of new 15 improved crops varieties for their productivity improvement at the 13^th October meeting held at NACGRAB. Among these are five (5) hybrid white yam, two (2) maize hybrid and another two (2) maize varieties, two (2) cowpea varieties, two (2) rice varieties, one(1) pureline Amaranthus variety and one (1) pureline okro variety.