Conventional farming can’t guarantee food security — Prof Mustapha

The Director General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Professor Abdullahi Mustapha has reiterated that traditional farming will not be able to sustain food security without the use of modern day technologies  as population keeps increasing in Nigeria. 

Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha said this on Monday 27th, June 2022  at the one day sensitization work shop for council chairmen, religious cleric, traditional rulers, farmers and extension agents from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council with the theme ‘Community Empowerment Through Agricultural Biotechnology: The Role of Council Chairmen, Clerics, Monarchs, Extension Worker and Farmers’’.

While speaking at the event, Professor Mustapha who was represented by the Country Coordinator, Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), Dr Rose Gidado stressed the need to ensure the adoption of biotechnology technologies in order to enhance food productivity and sustainability in view of the fast growing population with dwindling number of farmers.

 NABDA boss stressed that Nigeria has reached a stage where an average citizen is finding it difficult to provide food for himself and his dependents, adding that the traditional farming method is drudgery in nature to guarantee food security.

Mustapha ‘The reason for this is not far-fetched. We have continued to plant on the same size of land that is depleted every year to urbanization, desertification and other vulnerabilities associated with climate change. We lose a substantial portion of our agricultural land annually’’

‘‘Let me also inform you that our farming population is not getting younger. The age of the average farmer in Nigeria is about 60 years, the youths are all going into the city for white collar jobs, leaving the feeding of over 200 million people entirely in the hands of aged men and women”, he added.

He said the essence of inviting the traditional rulers, clerics and others is to inform them about the latest innovation Nigeria has embraced in providing affordable, safe, and nutrient rich food to the populace.

“Biotechnology and its tools have proven to provide on the spot solutions to most of the challenges facing agricultural productivity. With biotechnology, we can undertake precision agriculture that can bring about increased yields, safe and clean harvest.

Already, our farmers have started celebrating as we have successfully released some varieties of improved crops to ensure they maximally benefit from this technology that the other countries have been using for over 25 years.

The President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN). Arc Kabir Ibrahim, said the recently released and commercialized Genetically Modified (GM) beans has the potential of helping Nigeria to close the deficit of nearly 500,000 MT now being experienced, just as it would enhance export potential of the produce to all other African countries.

Ibrahim said farmers with GM bean would spend less on insecticides and labour being the high resistance ability of the seed to insect infestation popularly known as pod borer that is usually known to wiping out 75-100% of cowpea plantation, saying that ‘’i can testify to the efficacy of the PBR cowpea because I have planted it and sprayed insecticide only twice instead of 8-10 times, and the yield is also quite remarkable’’

He added that ‘’The BT cotton is also resistant to insects and drought with an enhanced yield. The fear of GM as being expressed by the Anti-GMO activists is not supported by good science as I have personally attended international meetings and held several discussions all over the world to come to the conclusion that GM crops do not cause any disease especially those certified by the Bio-safety Agency of Nigeria before being released.

Also,  Dantani Usman Dantsoho the representative of His Royal Highness Serikin Bwari Alh. Auwal Musa Isakoro hinted that OFAB is already working with farmers to ensure that there is an increase in food production through the adoption of the modern technology, calling on other farmers to key into the adoption of the new technologies towards enhancing their economic living standard and commercial food production.