From Juliana Agbo, Abuja
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has advised African leaders to resist the temptation of over-regulating products derived from New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs).
Its Director, Programme Development and Commercialisation, Dr. Emmanuel Okogbenin, spoke during a webinar organised by the association on re-directing plant breeding for speed and focus in Africa for food nutrition and security.
Okogbenin urged regulators to avoid the adoption of strict regulatory regimes that would hinder application of new innovations in plant breeding.
Noting that products of NPBTs needed not be regulated as transgenics, he called on regulators to allow innovation in agriculture.
“The NPBTs are methods allowing the development of new plant varieties with desired traits, by modifying the DNA of plant cells without the introduction of transgenes (new proteins artificially introduced from outside a specific crop).
They are called ‘new’ because these techniques have only been developed in the last decade and have evolved rapidly in recent years.
“NPBTs facilitate genome alterations (positive or favorable changes in the genetic make-up of plants/crops) which are specifically directed to induce specific mutagenesis in genes of interest which are targeted.”
He added that genome editing is one of the techniques with fast development and great potential for novel trait development for food, feed, health and high commercial value.
“The plant varieties have been developed using NPBTs since 2010 and some of these varieties include seedless tomatoes, low fat soybeans and Alfalfa for easy digestion.
He however called for private sector investment to enhance agricultural development noting that commercial agriculture (Agri-business orientation) is the future direction for food and nutrition security.
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