The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, has called on Nigerians of all creeds to embrace TELA Maize as a deliberate means of addressing hunger, food security as well as bolster their household and national economy.
TELA Maize is a genetically modified (GM) maize variety developed to address challenges such as drought and insect infestations, particularly Fall Armyworm (FAM) and stem borers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The project aims to improve yields, boost farmers’ incomes, and save foreign exchange by reducing the need for insecticides.
The IAR Zaria has a national mandate for the genetic improvement of maize, cowpea, sorghum, cotton, sunflower, Jatropha, Castor, Oat and groundnut. It also makes research into agronomy and plant health, irrigation engineering, including irrigated crop production; mechanisation and post-harvest investigation.
Making a passionate call on the unavoidable need to embrace genetically modified organisms (GMOs), especially the TELA Maize during a courtesy call on Blueprint Newspapers Limited at its corporate headquarters in Abuja, Tuesday, IAR team leader, Professor Lucius Bamaiyi, described the variety as safe, healthy and economically viable to meet the food needs of Nigerians as well as generate income for families and the nation.
He said, “GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism, referring to plants, animals, or microbes whose DNA have been altered, using genetic engineering techniques. This modification is done to introduce specific traits, such as increased yield, pest resistance, or tolerance to herbicides.
“It’s high time Nigerians embraced GMOs, especially TELA Maize. The name ‘TELA’ is derived from the Latin word ‘tutela,’ meaning ‘protection’. It’s resistant to army worm, climate change among others.
“It’s therefore not harmful as misconceived by a number of Nigerians. It’s also not carcinogenic as erroneously held by some people – unfortunately – including the elite and the informed ones in our society.”
Prof Bamaiyi allayed that, “IAR will never get involved in anything that would jeopardise the lives of loving Nigerians,” noting that the Institute’s media engagement was to get the people to clear their doubts about GMOs and their benefits to the nation.
Contributing, Prof. Rabiu Adamu, Principal Investigator for the TELA Maize project, said the maize hybrids is “currently the only option for farmers to control the recalcitrant pests via chemical spray as it will greatly improve their income. Eliminating the twin challenges of pest and drought will save Nigeria a lot of foreign exchange hitherto used to purchase chemicals.”
According to him, “Whereas the average yield in Nigeria is 4-5 tonnes per hectare, Kenya, Zimbabwe enjoy 6 -7 tonnes per hectare, making the maize variety the unavoidable option for the nation.”
Earlier in an address of welcome, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Newspapers Limited, Malam Salisu Umar, blamed the opposition to TELA Maize and associated GMO crop varieties on ignorance.
Tasking Nigerians on research, Malam Umar commended the IAR team for painstakingly educating the citizens through their presentations, and promised to use the Blueprint titles, including its vernacular edition, Manhaja, to educate and sensitise the people on the need to embrace GMOs.
“We need to sustain this collaboration in order to create awareness on this issue; to specifically address TELA Maize doubts from the Islamic point of view in order to solve food security challenges,” he said.
Editorial Director of Blueprint, Mr Clem Oluwole, Editor Daily, Abdulrahman Abdulrauf and others, who praised the IAR delegation for the synergy, called for sustenance of the media engagement in order to defeat the forces against GMOs.
In particular, they noted that, given President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s order stopping the importation of food items produced locally, there was the need to encourage consistent awareness blitz in order to change the negative views of the people on the subject.
Other members of the IAR team were Prof. Shehu G. Ado, Prof. Muhyideen Oyeleke, Prof Maimuna M. Abdulmalik and Yakubu Dodo.