Search Results
GMOs: Scarecrow and the irony of a farmer’s hoe
The advent of climate change, coupled with new plant pests and diseases, has worsened the plight of Ghanaian farmers, relegating them to remain in poverty as their crop yields and incomes plunge. Modern, climate-smart agricultural technologies, such as genetically modified crops (GMOs), can help combat these threats. However, scare-mongering and…
GM plant grows insect sex pheromones as alternative to crop pesticides
Scientists have discovered how to genetically modify the camelina plant to produce pheromone precursors that can control agricultural insect pests without the use of pesticides. Pheromones and other semiochemicals are among the next generation of sustainable insect controls. They protect crops by repelling pest insects from plants, preventing them from…
Nigerian farmer chooses innovation for healthier crops, better harvests
Patience Koku knows better than most the damage that bollworms can cause to a textile industry. A former fashion entrepreneur, Koku watched in frustration as the pests devastated cotton crops across Nigeria, bringing the entire textile industry to its knees. Although the entrepreneurial farmer left fashion years ago to grow…
African scientists fear the continent will be left behind as gene editing transforms food production
Scientists in Africa are calling on their governments to ensure the continent isn’t left behind as gene editing revolutionizes food production. Gene editing is a good tool that can help enhance Africa’s food security, say scientists across the continent, and it shouldn’t suffer the same fate that has stymied the…
Sylvester Oikeh: Improving lives through healthy crops
Nigerian scientist Dr. Sylvester Oikeh has long used his research prowess to advance healthy crops for humanitarian purposes. His motivation is simple: to improve lives. “To most children in Africa, food is what you get from the farm,” Oikeh said. “There is no marketplace. If you have no food, you…
Kenya advances GM maize to increase yields, reduce pesticide use
Kenya has taken a major step toward increasing its food and animal feed production, while reducing pesticide use, by planting genetically modified (GM) insect-resistant maize in open fields. With this latest development, Kenyan farmers are now closer to growing GM (Bt) maize on their farms. The Bt maize planted earlier…
Agroecology must be based in reality, not romanticism, panelists agree
Agroecology has a role to play in transforming agriculture — so long as the movement doesn’t trump the science or farmers’ needs. That was the consensus of the three panelists who joined the “Agroecology: What is it, anyway?” webinar hosted on Alliance for Science Live. Agroecology is both a…
Nigeria’s maize import ban could boost adoption of GM varieties
Though a ban on maize imports could accelerate Nigeria’s adoption of genetically modified (GM) TELA maize, it may be two years before the insect-resistant variety is approved, creating severe hardships for the country’s poultry industry in the meantime. Confined field trials of TELA maize, which offers resistance to drought and…
Legal challenge fails to stop Kenya’s food imports
A Greenpeace-endorsed lawsuit to prevent Kenya’s government from importing maize to ease predicted food shortages has been rendered moot due to a typographical error. Raising the specter of food safety, Kenyan activist Okiya Omtatah had filed suit to stop the imports, winning a temporary stay from the nation’s High Court…