By Jimoh Babatunde

Burkina Faso’s farmers will be cultivating BT Cotton for the eight season this year and they have benefited significantly from it as they had cultivated about 690, 976 hectares as at 2013 compared to 615,796 hectares in 2012, equivalent to a 12% increase over 2012, despite the fact that global hectares of cotton were down significantly by 10 to 15%.

Out of 690,971 total cotton hectares, 474,229 hectares or 69% were planted to Bt cotton (BGII), an increase of 51% in 2013 from 313,781 hectares in 2012. Based on average cotton holding of 3.16 hectares the number of farmers growing Bt cotton in 2013 was approximately 150,072.

The increase in total cotton area was principally due to the fact that success with Bt cotton and the benefits that it offers has provided the incentive for Burkina Faso farmers to increase plantings of Bt cotton.

But this is not the case with Nigerian cotton farmers where their contribution to the GDP continues to drop as the contribution of cotton to Nigeria’s GDP dropped significantly from 25 per cent in 1980, to only five per cent at present.

In a collaborative survey conducted by National Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development and Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment sometime ago, it was revealed that eighteen states produced cotton on a total land area of 399.87 hectares in the country.

The survey disclosed that Zamfara State cultivated the largest land area with 92.62 hectares followed by Katsina State with 75.91 hectares. The least cultivated land areas were Ekiti State 0.07 hectares and Ondo State 0.10 hectares.

Major challenge

The national production figure for cotton was 533.31 metric tonnes out of which Zamfara State produced the highest with 135.56 metric tonnes.The second largest output was 116.61 metric tonnes by Katsina State while the least production was 0.05 metric tonnes by Ekiti State.

Major challenge facing cotton farmers in Nigeria today has to do with access to quality seeds, which Burkina Faso farmers have access to through the BT cotton.

Burkina Faso has emerged as one of the most progressive countries in Africa in terms of biotechnology. With the number of BT cotton cultivated per hectare,the country is today seen as one of the largest-ever where biotechnology has been introduced on the African continent.

Benefits of Biotech Crops

The latest data on benefits from Bt cotton in Burkina Faso in 2013 includes an average yield increase of almost 20%, (19.7%) plus labor and insecticide savings (2 rather than 6 sprays), which resulted in a net gain of about US$95.35 per hectare compared with conventional cotton.

It is estimated that Bt cotton has the potential to generate an economic benefit of up to US$70 million per year for Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso continues to take the lead within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for its development capabilities in biotechnology with Bt cotton.

The Bt cotton program initiated and expedited by the Government of Burkina Faso is serving as a model for many other developing countries growing cotton.

With the economic success recorded by cotton producers in Burkina Faso, Nigerian cotton farmers are already looking forward to a law that will enable them benefit from BT cotton cultivation.

The President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, Mr. Kabiru Salman did not mince words when he told this reporter that Nigerian farmers will benefit from biotechnology if there is an enabling law in the country.

A member of Cotton Farmers Association, Samuel Ishaku, said a biotechnology law in the country will make their member rich like farmers in other West Africa countries and developed countries that have taken to the cultivation of BT cotton.

But their wishes can only come to pass if the bill on an act to establish the National Biosafety law for the country before the National Assembly is passed and assented to by President Goodluck Jonathan before May this year.

Mrs. Rose Gidado , the Country Co-ordiantor, Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), disclosed that Nigeria signed and ratified an internationally binding Biosafety Protocol Known as Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2000 and 2002 respectively.

The Protocol entered into, according to her , came into force on the 11th September 2003 and currently has 160 members. “The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety addresses the safe transfer, handling and use of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) that may have adverse effects on conservation and sustainable utilization of biodiversity, taking into account risk to human health.

“As a signatory, Nigeria made efforts at domesticating the Cartagena protocol with the National Biosafety Management Agency Bill 2011 which was initially passed by the 6th National Assembly but was not assented to by the President because it was passed a day before the end of the life of that Assembly.”

Mrs. Gidado added that the Nigerian National Biosafety Bill was returned to the National Assembly in 2014 where it is currently being reviewed . She noted that the passage of the bill into law will regulate the safe application of biotechnology in Nigeria to harness benefits in fields of agriculture, medical and the environment.

Gidado said the bill being passed into law will protect humans, biological diversity and the environment from potential risks associated with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

A stakeholder in the cotton industry, Arc. Kabiru Salman said they will be deprived of the numerous benefits associated with GMOs if there is no law regulating biotechnology in the country.

“As farmers, we embrace biotechnology and the passage of the bill will make whatever we do legitimate. GMO will lead to high yields and safety of what we do.”

He added that law on biosafety will take them away from subsistence farming to commercial farming and “this will make us food secured and good player internationally.

Salman said “farmers might result to smuggling of GMO seeds they considered will enhance their earning without risk assessment being carried out on them if the bill is not passed.”

A cotton farmer who was present at the National Assembly recently for the hearing on the Nigerian National Biosafety Bill, Grace Ochai, said Burkina Faso’s experience over the past decade provides an excellent example of the processes and procedures required for a biotechnology product to be successfully introduced in a developing country.

“The 2009 commercial release of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso was the result of nearly a decade of coordinated efforts on behalf of various cotton stakeholders to satisfy a series of technical, legal, and business requirements. With input from many sources, the Burkina Faso legislature researched, developed, and passed biosafety legislation to formalize regulatory oversight for the research and commercialization of agricultural biotech products.”

Ochai noted that the decision of the Burkinabe’s assembly paved the way for the success the cotton farmers and their country is enjoying from BT cotton today, she therefore, urged the Nigerian National Assembly to take the issue of the passage of the bill very important before the end of this legislative year .

Mrs. Gidado said Genetic Modification Technology is an important instrument for plant breeders.

“GM technology makes it easier for the breeder to transfer genes of desired traits from unrelated specie of crop to an unrelated specie solving problems that can’t be solved in conventional breeding.”

While explaining that GM technology will make quality seeds available to farmers, she said biotechnology creates opportunities; increases crop yields; reduces losses to insects, pests and diseases; post harvest storage problems and enhances the nutritional value of some crops.