By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Sokoto—Vice Chancellor of Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, has said that the application of Biotechnology on agriculture would help in tackling the challenge of shrinking resources through improved yield varieties.
In an interview with Vanguard, at Aliero, Zuru said that the even as the furore over Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs, was going on, Biotechnology still had a place in this modern society.

Prof. Zuru said: “Even with the furore accompanying the genetically engineered food, I believe that Biotechnology still has a place in the modern society. Not even because of the rising population that you have to care for but  because of the way development is going.”

Zuru added that technology would ensure the maximization of yield per available land.
“Most of the land that is available is being usurped by many development projects. This is bringing some of these resources to become scarce. And what we can only do now is to maximize the yield per hectare.”

Explaining the place of biotechnology in agriculture, he stressed that even villagers today go for improved varieties of crops against the local ones.

“Look at the local chicken we eat and take another look at the agric chicken. If you compare them in value, you find out that majority in villages are going in for the agric chicken.” Because they grow within a short time they grow to the point that if they are broilers, you eat and if they are layers, they lay eggs for you. The circle of production is shortened and they grow fast for you to eat.

“All these are courtesy of human interventions in the growth of these species. This is a replica of what will happen to cows and all other things. Scientists will engineer them so that they are circled in terms of production increases. There will be challenges here and there. There will be a lot of interventions through biotechnology in agriculture,” Prof. Zuru said.