The Director-General, National Agricultural Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Abdullahi Mustapha, stated that the federal government made known its plans to restore Nigeria’s textile industry, with the introduction of Bt Cotton. Bt Cottons contain foreign genes derived from a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. They make the cotton plant resistant to pests that affect the cotton. This adoption is to create massive employment for farmers in the country and others in the field. This was stated at the one day cotton farmers’ and other stakeholders training workshop in Abuja.
This initiative was introduced by the federal government to solve the challenge of pest control, and increase produce for farmers. Pests reduce farmers’ produce by about 60 percent, which has effect on profits, and also detrimental to the environment. Mustapha added that the initiative is already accepted by tfarmers.
Dr. Rose Gidado, the Country Coordinator for Open Forum On Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), said that the workshop was structured to keep farmers and stakeholders informed ahead of the new trends in the cotton industry. She added that the experiences of farmers who had adopted the Bt Cotton, had to be gathered to help them achieve better results in the production of cotton.
