Researchers at the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike are celebrating the two-year results from both the confined and multilocational trials of the genetically modified potato varieties currently under research in the country.
Dr Charles Amadi, a plant breeder at the NRCRI and the lead scientist on the Global Biotechnology Potato Partnership (GBPP) in Nigeria said that after collecting and analyzing data from the 2-year research work, they have found that the biotech potatoes have a yield advantage of 300 percent over the best performing conventional variety when no fungicide is applied.
GBPP is a project under the USAID funded Feed the Future Project that is implemented in 4 countries – Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nigeria. The Partnership is coordinated by Michigan State University (MSU) and involves various partners including the NRCRI, Umudike, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and International Potato Center (CIP). (www.canr.msu.edu/biotechpp/ for more information).
Dr Amadi said that over the years, potato farmers in Nigeria were exposed to many threats including those who contemplated suicide because of potato failure due to late blight infestation but that two years of research on addressing the pest and diseases threats, the team was confident that succour has finally come for farmers in the country.
The research is currently being conducted in Nigeria’s potato growing belt of Plateau and Taraba states.
“In our evaluation in the confined and multi-locational trial sites at Kuru near Jos, Bokkos (Plateau State) and Kusuku in Mambilla (Taraba State), we discovered that without the application of fungicides, the biotech potatoes were able to withstand late blights attacks and performed better and our farmers are happy,” he said.
“During these evaluations, biotech potatoes were grown together with their non-transformed relatives (Near Isogenic lines) and with some check varieties. In all these evaluations, when no fungicide is applied, late blight severely damaged the other potatoes, while the biotech potatoes were completely untouched. As a result, they gave yields that were 300% higher than their near Isogenic lines and the check varieties. However, when fungicide was applied, the yield difference disappeared showing that there were no yield losses in biotech potatoes because of the introduction of resistance genes”.
According to Dr Amadi: “The biotech potatoes which are GM potatoes offer famers two vital benefits which includes increased yield and less use of fungicides. These translate into higher income for the farmers and better living conditions.”
Nigeria ranks seventh among potato-producing countries in Africa and fourth in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an annual production yield of around 843,000 tonnes (830,000 long tons; 929,000 short tons) and an actual planted area of 270,000 hectares (670,000 acres). In spite of that, the average yield in Nigeria of 3.1 tonnes/ha is among the world’s lowest.
Potato production in Nigeria predominantly occurs in small farms whose farmers still rely on traditional tools such as machetes and hoes as opposed to tractors. An estimated 300,000 households in Nigeria engage in potato production, which translates to an average planted area of 1 hectare (2.5 acres) per household each year. The country’s main potato-planting region is the Plateau State (Barkin Ladi, Jos South, Riyom, Bokkos, and Mangu) which accounts for almost half of the national potato yield. Other potato-producing areas include Obudu in Cross River and Mambilla in Taraba State. Potato production takes place in both the wet season (April till September) and the dry season (November till March).
Potato production in Nigeria faces many constraints, including the late blight disease, unavailability of good-quality potato seeds, poor storage methods, insufficient education on farming methods and pest control, inadequate research and development, and inadequate farming equipment.
