GM seeds good for soil bio diversify, says NBMA DG

Director-General (DG), National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Dr. Rufus Ebegba

Adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) Seeds have been said to have higher potential to protect soil biodiversity being able to reduce numbers of  time chemical pesticides we apply to checkmate pest and diseases that usually destroy our traditional seeds from giving the maximum commercial foods production.

Said the Director-General (DG), National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Dr. Rufus Ebegba.

 

Dr. Rufus Ebegba pointed GMO seeds adoption are being able to reduce application of dangerous chemicals on crops and soils, thereby resulting to the destruction of many valuable organisms needed to fight against any other unknown radicals in the soils for efficient soil conservation and weed managements.

 

GM seeds according to him have high potential to reduce applications of chemicals  into the soil to combat pest and other crop diseases during science journalists hang out held recently under the auspices of Alliance for Science, saying that the engineering technologies unlike our conventional seeds had ability to fight diseases to reduce chemicals for soil biodiversity.

 

He argued that experiment has shown that commercialized GM crops have reduced the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity through conservation tillage practices, reduction of insecticide uses, and the use of more environmentally herbicides towards increasing yields to reduce pressure on additional land for agriculture.

 

Ebegba stressed further that all the publicly released GM seeds in Nigeria are very safe for human consumption and environment as can be even replanted as seeds, adding that the Federal Government has helped his agency to procure  modern machines to detect any genetically modified crop in the country.

 

Recall that the FG has finally commercialized and released  Bt cotton and cowpea into public use, promising more of the modified crop will soon be released to galvanise out food productions.