The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has raised concern over circulation of fake Genetically Modified seeds being sold by unscrupulous merchants to the unsuspected farmers to counter the original ones. 

According to the Tella Nigeria Programme Manager, Yarama Ndirpaya, while conducting journalists around genetically modified maize and cowpea demonstration farms in Abuja, he said the organisation has caught the illegal marketers and have reported them to Nigeria Seeds Council for action.
 
Ndirpaya also regretted that the seed merchants are selling one kilogramme of counterfeit seeds for N10, 000 in rural areas, explaining that the Foundation has been researching on crops and seeds for climate resilient productivity to step up food security.

He declared: “We have been working on Tella maize technology for the past nine years. Biotechnology crops are resistant to insects and we can guarantee their safety for human consumption. Argentina and Brazil are promoting the genetically modified crops.

“The Tella maize is safe for Nigeria and it could be used to increase productivity. It is resistant to stem borers and strives and survives very well when there is shortage of rainfall in the country. It is also drought tolerant,” he added.

According to the Programme Manager, governments should help the farmers in seeds production while National Agricultural Council must also put in place regulation, aiming at streamlining seed system and seed companies as it would check illegal transactions in farm business.

“Where social norms do not work, science do. The genetically modified crops have been tested and found to be safe. Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and others have proved this. We are only sensitising Nigerian farmers to know, and be aware of the fake GM fake.”

Also, speaking, Dr. Rose Gidado of Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), who disclosed that Nigeria and Ghana are the largest producers and consumers of cowpea, saying they will continue to use modern technology to produce genetically modified crops and seeds.

Gidado stressed that Tella maize matures within few months, and their seeds will be made available as they are just called hybrid seeds, explaining that “this is evidence-based and we can say that modern science and technology cannot lie.”

Contributing, Andrew Nanfwang, a GM maize farmer, narrated that the crop is flushing in the area despite the shortage of rainfall, and the yield is two or three higher over the conventional crops, “we will continue to plant it in our communities, and we eat the maize.”