Climate-smart genetically-engineered seeds may be Nigeria’s only viable way to confront farming disruptions brought on by climate change

Cowpea and cotton are two success stories for Nigeria's adoption of biotech seeds. Credit: Antoshananarivo via CC-BY-SA-4.0
Cowpea and cotton are two success stories for Nigeria's adoption of biotech seeds. Credit: Antoshananarivo via CC-BY-SA-4.0

Climate change has been a major menace in agricultural production especially for Nigeria that is fighting hard to produce enough food for its growing population.

According to a publication by the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in collaboration with the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), the primary cause of climate change is the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere resulting to increased greenhouse effect.

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Agricultural biotechnology has proven to be the most dependable solution to mitigate climate change through the use of climate smart crops, energy efficient farming, and reduced synthetic fertilizer usage and carbon sequestration.

The adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) Cowpea in Nigeria means the mitigation of climate mitigation by reducing the amount of chemical spray.

The conventional cowpea allows about 6 to 8 times spray of chemicals to control the pod borer, but the GM cowpea allows just about 2 to 3 times spray of chemicals. The application of agricultural biotechnology provides an ultimate way to combating the deleterious effects of climate change on agriculture by offering new opportunities for improving stress resistance.

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