Due to increasing populations and climatic changes, many countries around the world have embarked on series of measures to improve their agriculture and food stock.
One mechanism that is gaining acceptance in this drive has been the introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) crops.
A genetically modified crop is a food plant that has received genetic material from another plant, resulting in permanent change in one or more of its characteristics.
Currently in Ghana, there is momentum building in the country to introduce GM crops into agriculture as part of efforts to reduce hunger and ensure food security.
Towards this end, research into the viability of some selected GM crops is currently ongoing and making remarkable progress.
A Deputy Director at the Ministry of Environment Science and Technology (MEST), Mr Eric Amaning Okoree, made this known in an interview with The Mirror in Accra recently.
According to Mr Okoree, GM technology is used in food production to improve yields and nutrients or strengthen resistance to diseases and pests.
History of biotechnology in Ghana
He said Ghana’s interest in biological technology (biotechnology) began in 1992 when it became a signatory to a global convention on biological diversity.
Since then the country has gone through several stages to culminate in passing a Biosafety law (Act 821, 2011), to regulate biosafety technology in the country with the purpose of protecting the health of the people and the environment and also allow for commercial production of genetically modified crops. The Act also allows for genetically modified crops to be imported into the country.
“The government has been in favour of technology in agriculture for a very long time and considering the fact that there are so many people to feed it is important that we use technology to our advantage,” Mr Okoree said.
According to him, the biosafety law entails strict controls, risk assessment and stringent monitoring processes whether in planting or to operate by way of importation.
At present, he said only four applications had been approved for research to be undertaken into them and all of them were from the CSIR.
Three of these are for confined field trials, meaning that the GM crops are to be planted at a specific place, under set conditions and fenced, while one is for multi-locational trials i.e. the crop is planted in different locations.
Crops under investigation
Mr Okoree said the crops under investigation include, Nitrogen and Water and Salt Tolerant Rice (NEWEST Rice), Bt Cotton, Bt cowpea and High Protein Sweet Potato.
The NEWEST Rice was the first GMC to be planted in the country. The first batch was planted in April this year and harvested in July. A second batch has since been planted.
However, according to Mr Okoree, further tests are to be conducted on the rice to see how well it thrives.
Meanwhile, Marcelinus Dery reports from Tamale that research scientists at the Savanna Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) at Nyankpala in the Northern Region started carrying out researches on genes modification of cotton and cowpea about a year ago.
One of the research scientists, Dr Ibrahim I.D.K Atokple, said the move, if successful, could lead to increase in yields and seed quality thereby ensuring greater benefits to farmers.
He said the choice of the two crops for genes modification was based on the resistance of pests that were affecting the production of the crops.
“Apart from the economic cost of having to purchase a lot of chemicals to spray the cotton plant because of the ball worm that attacked it, the effect of the chemicals on the farmers and the environmental pollution associated with the exercise is a major concern to stakeholders,” he pointed out.
He said a successful modification of the genes of cotton made it very difficult for the ball worm to survive after eating part of the cotton ball, adding that the technology was currently being used by Burkina Faso and some African Countries in their cotton production.
With Cowpea, Dr Atokple said the gene modification of the plant also helped to control the maruku insect that had been worrying the conventional cowpea plant.
“The excessive use of chemicals to spray the conventional cowpea as a pest control measure could create health problems for consumers as the seeds may contain some remnants of the chemicals,” he explained.
He said the genetically modified cowpea would, therefore, ensure better yields and quality cowpea seeds for the farmers while guaranteeing health safety for consumers.
Dr Atokple said the research into the two crops by SARI would be strictly monitored by other scientists for about six to eight years to ensure that they met international specifications before they could be certified as genetically modified crops.
Countries that approve of GMCs
But there are some in the country, including Food Sovereignty Ghana, an advocacy movement, who see the introduction of GM crops as a risky venture for the country considering that a majority of farmers who are illiterates would find it difficult if not impossible to cultivate modified crops.
In a blog posted on the Internet by Npong Balikawu Francis, a multi-media journalist and blogger, titled; “Tread Cautiously on GMOs, crop scientist warns Ghana,” Dr Roger A. L. Kanton, a Principal Research Scientist with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), has urged Ghana not to rush into adopting Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) crops but wait for clear scientific research finding to fully determine the safety of GMOs.
He is of the view that the country can adopt Bt cotton (GMO crop) to improve the lot of farmers such as Burkina Faso has done but put on hold edible crops until such a time that research findings will declare GM crops safer for consumption
So far only four African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Egypt, Sudan and South Africa, have fully commercialised GM crops. Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda are conducting field trials of biotech crops, the final step before full approval for commercialisation.
On the other hand, Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Angola have all imposed restrictions on GM crops.
But, a report published on September 4, 2013, by the Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA), an environmental group chaired by Mr Kofi Annan, a former UN Secretary General, dismissed concern in Africa over genetically modified crops as fear of the unknown.
It points out that GM crops have been subjected to more testing worldwide than new non-modified varieties, citing reports from the European Union (EU), WHO and the US National Academy of Sciences.
By Jojo Sam/Daily Graphic/Ghana
