We are still within 2017 Calenda for GMO cowpea release

Prof. Mahammed Faguji Ishiaku

·       *Makes Clarification between GMO and bio-fortification.

Prof. Mahammed Faguji Ishiaku is a plant breeder and team leader of cowpea genetic engineering at IAR, Zaria. In his chat with Food Farm Food differentiate between fortified improved varieties using physical processing and bio-technology Engineering technics, said the improved GMO cowpea would be officially presented for commercialization at National by this December as he decried people that have ulterior motives rather than concern for GMO operations in Nigeria. Excerpts…..

Can we meet you Prof.?

Thank you; I am Prof. Mahammed Ishiaku, a plant breeder. I specifically breed cowpea, and I also use modern technologies in my breeding methods including bio technology as an intervention to develop improved cowpea varieties for the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), based in Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. I have been with the Institute doing lecturing and researching mainly into crops improvement activities and we have come a long way by releasing 17 improved cowpea varieties for Nigerians in farming communities.

You said 17 improved cowpea varieties, are they genetically modify or just hybrid, what is the difference between hybrid and GMO?

All these improved varieties were developed within conventional scientific approaches, and therefore they are not Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Hybrids are not GMOs. Hybrids are conventionally developed varieties. Hybrids are crop varieties that are mainly for out crossing crops, like maize, onions and the like.  Even in sorghum and rice, which are supposedly to be self- pollinating crops, hybrid varieties have been developed for them. This is to essentially emphasis that hybrid crops are not GMOs.

I always want to catch on the opportunity when I meet expert like you, what is the difference between fortified varieties and GMO products?

Yes, fortification is the scientific method of trying to give to a particular crop a quality character that it used to have in very small quantity, by using some scientific technics to manipulate its genetic composition that will raise the level of this essential deficient characteristic that hitherto is very low in the crop. For example, protein is very important for human’s body development when taken in food dosage. 

Crop like cassava for example is known to have a very small protein but naturally has more carbohydrate. But crops like cowpea, soybean and chickpea are all known to have a substantial level of protein of about 1/3 as the entire crop composition. But cassava has very low protein compared to these crops I mentioned. Now when you make cassava to produce much protein as cowpea and others, then you say it has been fortified. Fortification can be done physically by using chemical approaches during the processing of the food. This is called physical fortification. It can as well be bio fortification, thereby using biological materials to enhance the food nutritional value of the crop. I am sure your question has to do with bio-fortified cassava, bio-fortified sorghum and maize. These are essentially giving these crops the genetic capacity which they do not possess or have before, or the genetic capacity to be able to produce by themselves very higher level of this nutrient they are lacking. And that is why we call them bio-fortified. And many of these methods now use Bio- technology technics through the approaches of Genetics engineering. 

So, that does not make them GMO products or what does it mean? 

They could be GMOs, if the technology used is Genetics Engineering, but if it was not, it cannot be regarded as GMOs. 

Could this buttress some arguments that say there are GMOs in circulation?

No, the fact that there are fortified foods does not make them GMO depending on the approaches of fortification. By fortification, you can use chemical method in the industry through processing. If it was baby food that you need to add more protein as maize based food, and then you can get protein either from soybean or cowpea and add them up to become fortified. What is lacking earlier is protein, but now it has been fortified with protein. Fortification means fortress, meaning it has become strong enough as food component. Now, instead of taking physical process, you can now give the crop a genetic capacity by taking a gene from outside another crop, so that it can be able on itself manufacture the particular required gene or character by itself so that when you harvest it, you will now have a well-fortified maize with enough protein, or a very substantial protein component. And if the gene is taken outside maize, then it becomes a GMO.

 Have we any GMO in Nigeria?

In Nigeria no, none to my knowledge in the country as regards to release for commercial consumption. I do not know except somebody knows, and he wants to tell me.

Does that mean all these recently released fortified crops like potato, cassava, maize etc are not part of them?

They are not released in Nigeria, fortified cassava GMO is not released in Nigeria. That of potato is also not released in Nigeria. 

So we don’t have them circulation in Nigeria?

Well I would not know because I have not gone to the food stores and analysis what they are having in their shelves. I have not done that.

What about as planting is concerned?

No any crop yet on GMO for planting in Nigeria.

That brings me to why I’m even here, why is cowpea registration not happening as expected as recently some new crops varieties have been released for commercialization  without any GMOs at NACGRAB, Ibadan?

Yes, we have not finished our work and our calendar also for release is against 2017, and we are still in 2017. So we hope to hit the target around December 2017, as we may be able to submit for registration. We have never planned to release earlier than 2017.

There has been so much complain against GMOs, what is your stand? Some school of thought feel the technology should not be accepted here and another feels otherwise saying we need the technology ever than now? What is your take?

I usually don’t blame people for raising concern, but what I blame people for is delving into what they have no knowledge about which is unfortunate. This is like a new technology in any society, if you have something new people are bound to have doubts about it. But then the experts, I mean the owners of the technology should be allowed to explain. And then if there were questions, the questions should be posed to them and then allow it to be substantiated. 

That is the essence of a regulatory authority in the country. I am aware that the law that is the bio-safety law of Nigeria— I mean this booklet contains all the do’s and don’ts of the GMO operation in the country. This is the 2014 draft that was passed in 2015. This contains all the dos and don’ts about GMOs. If any GMO is found to be harmful in anyway not only for food alone, but even for the environment, the regulatory authority will not allow it to touch Nigeria soil in terms of planting or harvesting it by producing it. 

That is the long and short of it. But what this other people are arguing is that let us not allow the technology at all or completely. Why would you object a technology like that? It means you have something ulterior. If your concern is simply about its harmfulness to the environment, and being harmful as food materials, then you should allow the regulatory body to do their work because they will not allow that to be released. And besides, even I do not like to make a consideration like that, America unlike our society is much sensitive than we are. And they have been consuming this products very long time since 1992.

 If there are issues with it, the American government I tell you won’t have spared anybody, as they would have removed them from the market. Now coming back to the concept, it is not in every sphere that you will use GMO technology. It is only in those areas where you are faced with a problem that cannot be solved using conventional very simple technics. For example the insect are trying to bring resistance for in cowpea, we have screened 15,000 different accessions or lines of cowpea with different types of cowpea over the world. None of them have resistance to these insects. If we have got any, we would have multiplied that one, and then use the resistance to one in crossing the cowpea and develop an improved material. But none in the cowpea. So we have to take gene outside cowpea relations and put it inside the cowpea and it is working. It makes this new improved cowpea which we are still testing to be resistant against this insect. It is like having a crop that will produce its own insecticide against insects to protect itself. You don’t need to spray any chemical anymore. 

          

Yes, yes