“This is one of the worst droughts I have ever seen in my life. I don’t know what to do,” a hopeless and helpless farmer lamented.
In Malawi, just like many countries in Africa, smallholder farmers heavily rely on rainfall to produce food such that even short-term drought causes a significant damage to crops, particularly when it occurs during key stages of crop development, such as after planting or during flowering.
But prolonged dry spells were not the only impacts the farmers are faced with this year. With the drought, pests such as grasshoppers, caterpillars, fall armyworms, beetles, and other pests found a perfect climate and environment for them to breed and spread.
With financial support from the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) and Open Forum for Agriculture Biotechnology (OFAB), LUANAR [Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources] has started conducting trials on biotech (BT) maize at its Bunda Campus.
Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at LUANAR, Moses Maliro, said the introduction of genetically modified crops like maize brings in a new aspect in addressing food security problems in Malawi.
