YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

Biotechnology boosts cowpea production in Nigeria

By Gene Hall
Publisher

According to a release from the Cornell Alliance for Science, the food insecure nation of Nigeria will soon get a major boost from a genetically-altered variety of cowpeas.

BT cowpeas, naturally resistant to insects, should increase yields by about 20 percent and drastically reduce pesticide applications.

Often called “the poor man’s meat,” cowpeas are rich in protein and are a food staple in many parts of the world.

Nigeria has successfully created a regulatory system to safeguard the process.

In the United States, opposition to GMO and biotechnology is a classic first-world problem, common in well-fed nations. In poor countries, it’s a deadly serious issue.

The BT cowpea could increase food security in Nigeria and other nations where food is a desperate problem.

Meanwhile, we have yet to see the first environmental or human health consequence of GMO biotechnology. And science is still true, whether you believe it or not.

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