Zimbabwe Govt Urged to Try GMO Crops

Zimbabwe needs to conduct its own Bt cotton field trials to independently verify the merits and demerits of genetically modified crop varieties suitable to the country's local conditions, a farmer group representative says.

Zimbabwe National Farmers Union president Mrs Monica Chinamasa who was leading a delegation of farmer representatives on study tour at Chitala Agricultural Research Station in Salima where Malawian scientists were conducting confined Bt cotton field trials said the country needed to be open to new agricultural technologies.

"I'm very impressed with the Bt cotton trials being done here in Malawi. As farmers we are looking for new technological innovations which can improve our yields, crop disease resistance, cut costs and improve our earnings," she said.

"Honestly, after this study tour, I don't see why Zimbabwe should not embrace GMO crops such as cotton. We must allow our scientists to conduct field trials for Bt cotton so that we can see the advantages and disadvantages on our own."

Zimbabwe, Mrs Chinamasa said, needed to be open to new agricultural technologies that had a potential to enhance the competitiveness of its agricultural products and improve the livelihoods of farmers in the country.

"We must not resist new technologies that have a potential to transform our livelihoods and our economy in line with the ZimAsset agenda," she said.

"We need to focus more on correcting misconceptions about GMO crops. We need to educate and inform our farmers about the pros and cons of biotech crops so that they can make informed choices."

Malawi was conducting confined Bt cotton field trials to explore ways to effectively reduce input costs and control damage from bollworms and other insects that frequently damage cotton.

Agricultural experts say cotton farmers in Africa suffer huge losses due to pest problems. The most destructive of pests is the African bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) which biotech experts say in severe cases can cause a 100 percent loss while in unprotected fields pest damage can be as high as 90 percent.

Growing Bt cotton developed using bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which naturally produces a chemical harmful only to a small fraction of insects such as the bollworm, reduces pest infestations at low cost thus increasing yields and improving the livelihoods of cotton growers.

At present, the control of bollworms in most countries in Africa is done through application pesticides, which is a costly exercise in terms of cost of pesticides, spray equipment, labour, environmental and health implications.

Malawian scientists are using the Bt cotton Bollgard 2 variety in their field trials at Bunda College of Agriculture at Lilongwe University and in Salima, a cotton growing region in central Malawi.

Malawi started conducting Bt cotton field trials in January last year and is continuing with the study as part of efforts by the government to promote better yields and earnings for smallholder cotton farmers who were struggling with bollworm attacks and high pesticide costs.
It is still to commercialise Bt cotton.

The delegation to Malawi was made up of farmer representatives from Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe National Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Farmers Union and the National Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe (NBA).

According to the National Biotechnology Authority Act, conducting confined field trials for GM crops is permissible under the supervision of the NBA.