Tanzania developing drought tolerant hybrid seeds

On January 10, the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project in Tanzania, in collaboration with the Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) and the Ministry for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperative through its department of Research Development (DRD), demonstrated three new drought tolerant hybrid maize varieties to seed companies.

WEMA project manager, Dr. Sylvester Oikeh, spoke about various issues concerning the project, including the challenges of developing these seeds:

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Although scientists in Tanzania have been given a go ahead to continue with research to determine the safety of GM crops, the strict liability clause in the Biosafety Regulations is a setback. For example, it has not been possible for the WEMA project to test GM drought-tolerant and insect-pest protected maize in Tanzania. These GM maize hybrids are being tested in other WEMA countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.

Read the full, original article: Here comes drought-tolerant hybrid maize varieties