By Mohammed Kandi
Following array of advocacies for Nigeria to join the rest of the world in adopting Bio-technology (BT) in its agriculture for profuse crop yield, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr
Akinwumi Adesina, has assured Nigerians that the country will soon adopt BT Cotton.
Adesina gave the assurance recently in Abuja, when he received members of the Cotton Ginners Association in his office.
He said: “BT cotton is a genetically modified variety of cotton that produces insecticide and increases yield. If you look at China, India, Bukina Faso and Mali, they all have BT cotton.”
Adesina also informed that the government had distributed 468, 800 units of improved variety of cotton sacks to more than 40 thousand farmers, which he said was currently being developed across the country.
He reiterated that the technology will facilitate quest for food security saying “Nigeria will have BT cotton because it increases yield, it has less infections and as such we do not need to use less
pesticides that are dangerous to our farmer’s health.” The minister said Nigeria will not avoid science and technology but regulate it to favour the populace.
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman of the association, Alhaji Salman Abdullahi, called for the adoption of BT cotton in Nigeria to fight the effects of climate change.
He appealed for the inclusion cotton in the staple crop processing zone programme of the Federal Government.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
