Bangalore: Ethiopia, which until 2015 opposed genetically modified (GM) crops, now has green-light observational field trials for GM potatoes that are resistant to late blight, a fungal disease that is devastating to potatoes and tomatoes. . The crop will be tested in a limited agricultural area.
The relevant body – the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) – has approved environmental studies for transgenic (genetically modified) drought-tolerant and insect-protected maize (TELA maize) as part of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA Maize). Approval has also been issued. Project.
WEMA is a public-private scientific and research collaboration that was started in 2008 to develop drought-tolerant white hybrid maize for small African farmers. It is coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the National Agricultural Research Institutes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique.
The special permit for GM potatoes came after a year of review and deliberation by Ethiopia’s National Biosafety Advisory Committee, which reviewed a request from the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute (EIAR).
Ethiopia allowed Cultivation of GM crops in the 2015 Biosecurity Declaration aimed at addressing food security. An advisory committee was set up in 2017 by the country’s council of ministers to advise the government on GM organisms and biosafety.
GM potatoes are supported in Ethiopia by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Consultative Group on Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and. International Potato Center (CIP) Which counts Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda as members.
TELA Maize has also been approved for a five-year permit for limited testing. Developed by WEMA in partnership with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, maize is grown commercially only in South Africa, but is being tested in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.
Field research for TELA maize dates back to 2018 – the same year Ethiopia approved commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt cotton, after experts conducted two years of limited field trials and risk assessment documents and to accept They are safe for the environment and human health. Cultivated commercially in India, China, the US and Sudan, field trials are underway for a pest-resistant cotton crop in Kenya. It was widely smuggled into Ethiopia from Sudan before it was approved.
Ethiopian researchers are also working on developing GM inset (Enset ventricosum), a type of banana and a major food crop in the country. Various parts of it are used in indigenous cultures for other medicinal, utilitarian and ornamental purposes. Enset is a resilient plant when it comes to weather tolerance, but it is prone to bacterial wilt.
Meanwhile, questions on the country’s lowland wheat program- drought resistant crop Allegedly There has been no official response to the trial of GM wheat.
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)
Read also: Amid drought-induced famine, Kenya lifts 10-year-old ban on genetically modified crops