The National Biosafety Authority yesterday assured Cotton farmers in the County of their technical support in order to revive the ailing sectors.
The Authority’s board members and management led by Mr. Hussein Mohamed said the cotton sector has a lot of potential and therefore the support will enable more farmers to embrace and cultivate the crop that had been ignored in the past due to poor returns.
Mr Hussein said the farmers should count on government support to revive the sector saying the market for the product is already available.
The Authority has already approved the commercialization of Bt Cotton, which has been in cultivation since 2020 and no adverse effects have been noted or reported through, the monitoring and surveillance system.
The Bt Cotton is already being grown in Homa Bay, Siaya, Busia, Baringo, Kisumu, Embu, Kwale, Meru, Kitui,Kirinyaga, Tharaka Nithi, Machakos,Makueni, Marakwet, Taita Taveta among others.The team visited Mulwanda Cotton Ginnery in Busia County as well as Bt Cotton farmers in Siaya who explained how they have made progress in cotton farming
.However, Zedekiah Adul, a farmer at Madiany in Uyoma Siaya County a renown farmer in the area called on the government to provide more resources especially seeds and fertilizer to farmers who have embraced cotton farming in the country.
“We have farmers who are willing to adopt cotton farming but they do not have capacity due to limited resources,” said Mr. Adul.
He said due to adopt of Bt Cotton production for one acre has increased from 700kg to 1400kgs.The Authority’s Director of Technical Service Mr. Josphat Muchiri underscored the critical role being played by the agency in assuring and ensuring the safe development, transfer handling and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with the aim of protecting human and animal health as well as the environment from possible adverse effects of GMOs.“Confined field trials (CFT) are part of the GMO development phase that enable researchers to collect additional safety data that cannot be generated at the lab or greenhouse levels.
They are small scale, controlled and monitored field experiments that are vital for evaluating specific genetically engineered traits, agronomic performance, potential environmental impact, and safety of GMOs,” said Mr Muchiri.
NBA acting Chief Executive officer Mr. Nehemiah Ngetich revealed that the Authority will step up public awareness campaign in order for Kenyans to appreciate its mandate.“As an Authority we are up to the task in regulating GMOs in Kenya,” assured Mr. Ngetich noting that misinformation had led to poor uptake of the modern biotechnology.
The Authority which is a State Corporation established under the Biosafety Act, Cap 320 of the Laws of Kenya is mandated to: exercise general supervision and control over the transfer, handling and use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) with a view to ensuring safety of human and animal health and provision of adequate protection of the environment.
The Authority has the mandate to facilitate approvals of safe biotech crops, animal breeds that are resistant to pests and diseases leading to increased food production.
Kenya has a well-established legal, regulatory and institutional framework which provides for streamlined processes for persons dealing in GMOs and their derived products in the Country.
Kenya is a member of the international community and is a signatory to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which is multilateral environmental agreement whose objective is to ensure an adequate level of protection in the safe transfer, handling and use of GMOs.
