The Genetically Modified (GM) Potato project ongoing in Nigeria has concluded its first-year multi-locational confined trial in three locations with the Biotech potatoes showing significant yield advantage over conventional varieties planted in the country.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Communication Officer (West and Central Africa) AATF, Alex Abutu, made available on Wednesday in Kaduna.
Abutu said that preliminary results from the three locations namely Kuru and Bokkos in Plateau and Kusuku in Taraba showed that the biotech potatoes had a uniform yield advantage of over 300 per cent.
This was when compared to the best performing variety in the country when no fungicide was applied.
Abutu said the trials were under the Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership (GBPP), a five-year project, coordinated by Michigan State University.
It focuses on the commercialization of late blight disease resistant potatoes in farmer-preferred varieties in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the International Centre for Potatoes are other strategic partners in the project which is implemented in Nigeria by the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike.
Dr Charles Amadi, GBPP Principal Investigator said that he was excited by the promising results of the research.
He said the research showed clearly that biotech potatoes can contribute significantly to the mitigation of devastation caused by recurrent outbreaks of late blight in the potato-growing areas of Nigeria.
Amadi added that this would help increase yields, secure farmers’ investments and the livelihoods of stakeholders in the potato value chain.
Dr Shuaibu Kahya, the GBPP Trial Manager said, “Late blight is the most destructive of all potato diseases. It affects both potato foliage in the field and tuber in the storage which can destroy a crop, leading to a 100 percent loss. In Nigeria.
“Potato is grown predominantly in Jos, Plateau, Obudu in Cross River, and Mambila Plateau, Taraba” during the rainy season.
According to him, potato farmers in these areas have suffered from late blight disease in their fields for more than 30 years.
Kahya said, “In 2021/22, NRCRI scientists evaluated late blight resistance potato known as biotech potato (these biotech lines have 3R gene from potato wild relatives).
“The modified potatoes were planted along with non-biotech potatoes as control, at the confined field trial at Kuru and Bokkos in Plateau and Kusuku and Mambila plateau in Taraba.
In the first year multilocational confined field trial, 80-100 per cent of the control non-biotech potato died of late blight diseases.
He said, “But the biotech potato performed well, with 100 percent of the modified plants showing no late blight symptoms on the foliage.
“The harvested biotech potato tubers did not show any difference in tuber size and shape compared to the non-biotech potato.”
The trial manager listed the benefits of the GM potato to include a greater number of tubers than the non-biotech potatoes.
This is responsible for the significant yield, reductions in production cost and environmental impact, as well as the potential to influence marketability.
Some of the farmers who participated in the trials were full of praise for the modified variety.
They said that it out-performed their conventional varieties and called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to expedite action on the commercialization of the biotech potato to ensure farmers have unhindered access to its tuber seedlings.
Mrs Rosemary Samson, the Chairlady of Kusuku Potatoes Farmers Association, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba said she and her fellow farmers have been planting potato for years but have never witnessed such high yielding and very productive varieties as the biotech potatoes.
She said, “In the past years, we have been farming potato on this land, I have farmed potato for more than 20 years, the problem in the land is poor yield and insect destruction and rustiness of the potato.
“This variety is completely different from our past experience. This one yields very good and rustiness is not like in the past.”
Another farmer, Genesis Johnson, the Chairman of Potato farmers from Gembu said he came to witness the harvest of the Irish potato that is resistant to pest and disease and he was very impressed with what he saw.
She said, “In the previous years, we have been planting irish potato and we have not witnessed a potato that is resistant to pest and disease.
“We spend so much on chemical spray to reduce diseases and insect attacks, yet what we get at the end of the day is not proportional to the investment.
“With this biotech potato, we are encouraged that hope for bumper harvest is possible and that with little investment our efforts will yield good results.
“We are appealing to the Frderal Government to avail us this variety of Irish potato, it will give us more income and more food on our table.”
According to Johnson, the new variety can be planted twice, because it is early maturing.
She added, “So, with the duration of rainfall, we can cultivate twice, first cropping and second cropping.
“If the government will provide us with this resistant variety, we will be happy and go into production on larger scale.
“I have been farming Irish potatoes for more than 30 years but have never seen anything like this.
“It is one of the foods we eat, it provides us with income in a short period of 60 – 90 days. It is marketable compared to the rest.”
The Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership project is implemented in 4 countries – Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria.
It is coordinated by Michigan State University, and involves various partners including the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and International Potato Center (CIP).
It was founded in 2003 to address Africa’s food security prospects through agricultural technology.
AATF believes that the agricultural sector is a key foundational pillar as Africa consolidates its economic growth and carves out its new position as a major global economic powerhouse and the next growth market in the world.
It was formed in response to the need for an effective mechanism that would facilitate and support negotiation for technology access and delivery.
It also focuses on the formation of appropriate partnerships to manage the development and deployment of innovative technologies for use by smallholder farmers in Sub Saharan Africa.
