GM potato release depends on Biosafety, Varietal Committee approvals

Effort to get Genetically Modified ( GM) potato for commercial release and registration in Nigeria against 2025 is on top gear with positive approval from biosafety agency for its environmental safety, a vital condition needed by the National Variety Release Committee for any transgenic variety's registration and commercialization.

This was contained in a press release made available to Foodfarmnews by AATF communication officer, Mr. Alex Abutu where it was stated that GM potato variety may soon be released into Nigerian markets if it passed the environmental safety test of National Biosafety Management Agency which is a strong criterion for the National Variety Release Committee consideration for registration and release of any transgenic variety into the markets.

This particular GM potato variety is transgenic enhanced to fight plight disease that is destroying huge numbers of conventional potato seed varieties,  thereby short changing farmers' production and  economic earnings.

The press statement quoted a director at National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Dr. Charles Amadi as saying that the new GM potato variety is modified to withstand bligh disease that is responsible for over 90 percent potatoes destruction on farmers' fields in Nigeria, adding that the GM potato would soon be released and registered by 2025 after biosafety and National Varietal Release Committee' approvals respectively.

Dr. Amadi in the statement is described as the principal investigator, Global Biotechnology Potato Partnership (GBPP) project in Nigeria under the USAID-funded by Feed the Future Project being implemented in 4 countries – Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria. 

The press release stated further that " After two years of research work in confinement and multi locations in potato growing belts of Nigeria, because of the uniform results from all locations, we are confident that threats of late blight will be successfully contained in Nigeria with the release of these late blight resistant varieties that will be available in 2025.We just need one more year of  regulatory multi location  data to present them to the National Biosafety Management Agency for environmental release. If we get the permit for environmental release this year, we will take them to On-farm trials in 2025. If they show consistency of performance across Nigeria we will submit them to the National Varietal Release Committee for consideration and approval after field inspection by the technical sub-committee"