GM cotton trials impress Zim farmers
Eight Zimbabwean farmers who visited Malawi last week to learn how the country is doing on the confined cotton field trials left the country satisfied, according to a leading researcher and main player in the project Professor Moses Kwapata.
The confined cotton field trials were first conducted at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar) formerly Bunda College of Agriculture in 2012-13 growing season.
Following the success of the project, it was scaled up to the cotton growing districts of Salima, Balaka, Zomba, Chikwawa and Nsanje in the 2013-14 growing season.
The delegation from Zimbabwe, which included journalists and farmers from Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and some government officials, left the country after visiting the trial site at Chitala Research Station in Salima.
“We have made a lot of strides as regards BT cotton to the extent that farmers from surrounding countries are coming here to learn from us.
“The delegation from Zimbabwe is just the first and we know others will be coming shortly to see how Malawi is doing as regards BT cotton,” said Kwapata.
He said they are happy with the progress they have made because, arguing that if they attract farmers from Zimbabwe, it means that the continent is noticing.
“Apart from us, it is Burkina Faso and South Africa where BT cotton has been tried but Burkina Faso is the one leading in BT cotton production,” he said.
Kwapata said the cotton at Bunda and Makoka will be harvested in July while at Toleza in Balaka and Kasinthula in Chikwawa will be ready in July because of the differences in the weather pattern
“It is cold in Bunda and Zomba, hence the cotton will mature late and Balaka and Chikhwawa are hot areas, hence the cotton will be ready for picking much earlier. After we have harvested and compiled the results, then we will destroy the cotton,” he said.
Kwapata said that depending on the results this year, the crop will be given to a few selected farmers with capacity to grow before a comprehensive report is submitted to the Agricultural Technology Committee in the Ministry of Agriculture in two years time.
Secretary for Agriculture Jeffrey Luhanga is on record to have said that BT cotton is good for farmers because it does not require a lot of pesticides as compared to conventional cotton as a result farmers will be saving more resources and time.
In Burkina Faso farmers have tripled their harvests after they started growing the GM crop and the same is expected to happen in the country, according to the GM experts.
