Ethiopia approves cultivation of GM corn and cotton

Ethiopia has approved the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) maize and cotton varieties, including TELA maize and Bt-GT cotton, which are expected to increase yield by up to 60% and 57 quintals per hectare respectively. The decision, which takes seven years to make, is part of Ethiopia's 15-year National Cotton Industry Development Strategy to produce 1.1 million tons of cotton from 1 million hectares of land and generate US$125 million in revenue. The country is following the lead of other African countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa in adopting GMO crops to address the environmental and food security challenges and to position itself as a leader in the African textile and apparel industry.

Ethiopia has approved the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) maize and cotton varieties. The decision was made by the National Variety Registration Committee (NVRC). The approval, granted early last week, covers the TELA maize varieties, which are genetically modified to protect against corn moth, diabrotica and drought, and the Bt-GT cotton variety, which is resistant to the cotton moth. The new varieties are reported to provide yield increases of up to 60% over conventional varieties. Tesfaye Disasa, PhD and coordinator of the TELA maize project at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), called the approval a milestone for the country’s agriculture. TELA maize seeds will be made available free of charge to smallholder farmers through local seed companies. He noted that the approval process took seven years, including five years to obtain biotechnology authorization and another two years to produce the varieties. Similar transgenic maize ...