The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) approval of open field trials of genetically modified maize has raised hopes that the insect-protected seed could be in the hands of farmers as early as next year.
The move means that the Water Efficient Maize Africa (Wema) project team can start the national performance trials of the Bt maize variety and eventual delivery to farmers.
The environmental regulator approved +the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report jointly submitted by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).
Early this year, National Biosafety Authority (NBA) granted a conditional approval to Kalro and AATF for the environmental release as a first step towards the commercialisation of GM maize.
Nema review
A pre-condition for the applicants to undertake national performance trials of the GM maize was an EIA which was to be submitted to Nema for review and approval.
AATF executive director Dr Denis Kyetere welcomed the approval saying the Nema move will boost what has been a long journey to embracing agricultural biotechnology, one of the key tools to address challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Kenya. “With this approval, Kalro is set to lead the country into the league of more than 25 countries that are benefiting from Bt technology,” he added.
Kalro director general Dr Eliud Kireger said the adoption of the maize variety will directly contribute to country’s national goals of boosting agricultural productivity through application of innovative technologies to tackle the ever-lurking food insecurity.
“We look forward to seeing Kenyan farmers benefit from this technology like their counterparts in other countries,” he said.
Dr Francis Nang’ayo, senior regulatory affairs manager, AATF welcomed the Nema approval terming it timely. “We have been anxiously waiting for this approval. It comes at an opportune time for us to start the NPTs during this short rain season,” he said. He thanked Nema for its “very important evidence-based decision” on the application.
“We now have an opportunity to deliver a product to farmers that will help them reap the benefits of a more productive and more resilient crop, protecting their families from the economic burden that pests inflict on their farms,” said Dr Murenga Mwimali, the Wema-Kenya country coordinator.
The Wema team expects to be through with the first season of trials this year, with the second trials starting early next year.
“I am confident that we will submit the results from the trials to the National Performance Technical Committee and thereafter to the National Variety Release Committee next year. I am also very confident of releasing the Bt maize varieties into the local market before 2018,” he said.
Massive damage
The Wema Bt maize has been developed to control two major stem borer pests of maize in Kenya—the spotted stem borer (Chilo partellus) and the African stem borer (Busseola fusca).
The damage caused by stem borers on maize crops is greater than Sh9 billion annually. Stem borers also reduce maize production by an average of 13 per cent or 400,000 tonnes per year.
The loss can increase to 100 per cent during drought years or when measures are not taken to manage the pests appropriately.
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