Abdullahi Mustapha, director-general of the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency, says the performance of Nigeria’s genetically modified crops is due to robust, rigorous biosafety oversight and informed citizens’ consent.

Mr Mustapha said this during an interview in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that Nigeria’s regulatory architecture, anchored by the National Biosafety Management Agency and supported by research partners, adopted a case-by-case risk assessment approach consistent with international best practice.

He said that biosafety was not a brake on innovation but the mechanism to ensure that innovation proceeded responsibly.

The director-general said transparency in testing, post-release monitoring, and public engagement were essential elements of that process.

Mr Mustapha, who gave an update on the status of three GM crops approved and released for commercial cultivation in Nigeria, assured that the crops were performing well.

The three GM crops are Bt Cotton, Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea and Tela maize. He said the crops in the fields were encouraging.

Mr Mustapha said the trials and field reports showed that TELA maize improves yields, with visible evidence on farms under pest pressure and erratic rainfall.

According to him, the recorded yields sometimes fell by 20 to 35 per cent compared with local varieties, while reducing pesticide application.

He said pod-borer-resistant cowpea had substantially reduced crop losses to Maruca, the bean pest, and lowered farmers’ insecticide costs.

Mustapha further said that reports from cotton-growing belt communities indicated dramatic improvements in productivity for farmers who had adopted Bt cotton.

“These are not abstract scientific claims; they are the experiences of households whose incomes, nutrition and food security have improved as a result.

“Agricultural biotechnology is not a silver bullet but is an eminently practical tool that complements other policies to increase productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, and generate value across the agriculture value chain,’’ he said.

Mr Mustapha underscored that when farmers’ harvests improve and become steady, it would create wealth for processors, transporters and related agribusinesses.

He added that when crops require fewer chemical inputs, the environment gains and production costs fall.

“These ripple effects align precisely with the government’s ambition to make Nigeria more self-reliant, to create dignified employment for our youth, and to leverage science and technology for national development,’’ he said.

(NAN)