Cowpea or bean known
scientifically as ‘vigna unguiculata’ is the most important food grain legume
in the savannah regions of tropical Africa, where it is grown on more than 12.5
million hectares of land.
The legume serves
as an excellent source of protein in many West African nations, and its
consumption exceeds that of rice and millet, two staples of the West African
diet. It is estimated that over 200 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa
consume cowpea on a daily basis as their source of protein.
Statistics of Food
and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Ghana is amongst the
world’s leading cowpea producers. Unfortunately, over the years harvestable
yield of cowpea is impacted by a number of factors, including soil fertility,
parasitic weeds, and insect pests, among others.
According to Deputy Director of Savannah
Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Nyankpala, Dr. Mumuni Abudulai, Maruca pod borer (Maruca vitrata), one of the pests of cowpeas, could
account for yield losses as high as 80 percent.
He emphasised
that, to date, conventional plant breeding efforts for resistance against
Maruca vitrata had been unsuccessful, adding that the use of pesticide sprays
was simply not an option for most subsistence farmers in West Africa due to
high costs and sometimes, unavailability of suitable insecticides.
Dr. Abdulai made
these revelations at a day’s sensitization seminar and field visit organised recently
by the West Africa office of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation
(AATF) in collaboration with SARI and The Open Forum on Agricultural
Biotechnology Ghana Chapter at Nyankpala.
The
sensitisation seminar which was on the Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea Project,
sought to sensitize participants on the prospects and benefits of the project
and create awareness on agricultural biotechnology and its benefits.
It was also
intended to solicit the support of farmers for the adoption of Bacillus thuringiensis
(Bt) cowpea seeds, showcase the Confined Field Trial (CFT) site to stakeholders
through seeing-is-believing field visit as well as to acquaint participants
with the challenges and safety of Bt cowpea.
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| Participants of the seminar on field visit |
The seminar was
attended by farmers, seed companies, chiefs, regulators, journalists, students,
agricultural extension officers, agro-dealers, government officials, scientists
and among others.
The Cowpea Project Manager, Dr
Abdulrahman Kollo, said the AATF in collaboration with
a coalition of institutions was leading efforts towards reducing cowpea grain
yield losses caused by Maruca vitrata through the application of modern plant
improvement technologies.
The development
of a genetically modified cowpea with Bt gene, he indicated, would enable
resource-poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa to have access to high quality
seeds with increased resistance to Maruca vitrata.
“With the biotechnology
gene transferred into improved cowpea varieties, it is expected that
smallholder farmers can increase their yields by over 20 percent and greatly
enhance their food security and economic status. More importantly, biotechnology
cowpea has the potential to reduce health hazards to both farmers and consumers”,
stressed.
Meanwhile, so
far, 14 CFTs have been successfully conducted annually in Nigeria, Burkina Faso
and Ghana since 2009 and two promising lines have emerged. The pod borer
resistant trait has been introgressed into farmer preferred cowpea varieties
through conventional breeding and the efficacy of the trait is being evaluated
in multi-location CFTs to validate the results obtained.
Scientists say product
development of Maruca vitrata resistant Bt cowpea has also reached advanced
stage in Nigeria and is speedily advancing towards deployment. The next
priority is to ensure that the technology is delivered to millions of
resource-poor farmers who need them.
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