Assessing risks and benefits of Bt maize

By Isaac Twumasi Quantus in Accra. Maize is Africa’s second most important food crop and is grown across the continent in a wide variety of ecological conditions. Small and medium-scale farmers on less than 10 hectares are Africa’s most important maize producers, accounting for 95% of total production. Their efforts are constrained by a number of environmental factors, such as drought and soil fertility, but pests can also cause significant problems.

Cereal stemborers, the larval stage of certain moths can cause the loss of about 20% to 40% the potential yield of a maize crop. Moreover, they are difficult to control because the eggs and the larvae are hidden deep inside the stems.

Stemborers are a major pest in nearly every area where maize is grown. Given the importance of maize in commercial agriculture, it is therefore not surprising that stemborers have been a major target for agribusiness.

In recent years, the industry has turned its attention almost exclusively to genetic engineering, and the incorporation of the Bt gene in particular, to deal with the problem.  Across the globe, Bt maize is controlled by the large Transnational Corporation through patents on the relevant technologies.

In Africa, the Bt maize sold Transnational Corporation is not designed for small farmers. The varieties available in South Africa have only been incorporated in varieties developed for commercial farms. With Bt cotton, small farmers have well-developed marketing channels that enable them to profit from surpluses.

The lack of research into maize for small farmers is not confined to South Africa. Both the private sector and the public sector have done a miserable job producing hybrid varieties suitable to small-scale farming.

Researchers have it on record that only two new varieties of maize have been produced over the last thirty years for the mid-altitude environment in Kenya, where small farmers produce 40% of Kenya’s maize. Small farmers are left with misplaced technologies. The situation is similar throughout Africa, and it is therefore not surprising that hybrids account for only 20% of the maize grown on the continent.

The major problem facing farmers in Kenya is that there are no markets and the middlemen are taking all the money. Although the markets may be small. Transnational Corporation do have an interest in Africa’s maize markets.

Farmers have developed ways to reduce infestation through cultural control techniques or direct applications of neem extract, pyrethrum marc, soil, ashes or chili powder to infected maize plants.

 

This article was originally posted on Africa Agribusiness Platform

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