Famers should wait for biotechnology crops

Principal of Bunda College of Agriculture of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar), Professor Moses Kwapata, has said this country will wait for three years before it starts using biotechnology cotton.

Kwapata was speaking at Makoka Research Station in Zomba recently during the community sensitisation workshops for farmers on multiplication biotechnology of cotton confined to field trials.

Said Kwapata: “Trials are now at an advanced stage and farmers should be hoping for good things. When all is done, we will ask for the approval from government so that our farmers can start using [the crop].

“The trials were been done at Bunda, but now it has gone further to Makoka Research, Chitala in Salima, Toleza in Balaka, Kasinthula in Chikhwawa and other areas. Everything is going well.”

Kwapata said once farmers start using the genetically modified cotton, they will experience bumper yields and that farmers will not have to apply more insecticides to control pests.

President Joyce Banda in May 2012 endorsed the use of modern biotechnology in the country’s plans to spur agricultural productivity.

According to experts, genetically modified crops are pest-resistant, require fewer chemicals and are normally drought-resistant, thereby guaranteeing increased yields for farmers.