[Editor’s note: The following is an interview with Rose Gidado, Country Coordinator of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Nigeria.]
What exactly is GMO?
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Genetic modification is an intervention tool, it is a complimentary tool to what is already on ground which is conventional agriculture, combination of the two is good, the technology cannot stand on its own but it depends on what is already on ground, we are not saying it should replace conventional breeding.
There is a concern raised by the anti GMOs that the seeds of GM crops cannot be replanted.
It is non scientific, it is unfounded, it is fictitious, GM seeds can be replanted, even the hybrid seeds that the farmers go back to buy, they can be replanted as well, but in terms of hybrid, the yield that you can get will not be as much as the yield you can get the previous year of your planting
Do you think [Nigerian] farmers are ready for this technology?
…I know many people have complained to me about stem borer in the case of maize, they suffer a lot of losses 80 to 90 per cent losses, and they use so much farm input like chemicals and the residual effect of those chemicals is not pleasant.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: ‘GMOs will not replace conventional seeds’
