By Adedapo Adesanya
The Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), a biotechnology informative platform, has advised the federal government to position itself to achieve $638 million through cowpea export in six years.
This came as the platform called for the adoption of Biotech treatment for cowpea production and export by the federal government.
Mrs Rose Gidado, OFAB Country Coordinator said the figure was based on a study conducted by Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), under Biosafety and Biotechnology Rapid Assessment and Policy Project (BioRAPP).
Mrs Gidado said that the adoption of Pod-borer Resistant Cowpea (PBR) will enhance the outputs of Nigerian farmers, thereby impacting positively on the nations’ economy.
She said that PBR brought about 105 per cent returns on investment, adding, however, that a five-year delay would decrease the rate of return by half or 54 per cent.
The OFAB Director said that the PBR cowpea which was insect resistant was produced by the Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria, in collaboration with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).
She said the institute also produced TELA maize, a transgenic drought-tolerant and insect-protected maize variety.
Mrs Gidado also said that the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike working in collaboration with Donald Danforth Center, Missouri in the United, also produced cassava – VIRCA Plus, a pro-vitamin A and mosaic virus resistance variety.
OFAB is an Informative platform that brings together stakeholders in the field of Biotechnology and the public as a whole to enable interactions, sharing and exchange of knowledge, experiences, contacts and exploring new avenues of bringing the benefits of biotechnology to the agricultural sector.
Modupe Gbadeyanka