USAID earmarks N1.7 billion for cowpea research in Nigeria, others

“It is to basically protect it against the maruca pod borer and our investments are really to push it in this last mile to get regulatory approval.

The United States aids agency, USAID, said on Thursday that $10m (N1.7 billion) had been earmarked for extension of cowpea project from 2014 to 2018 in Nigeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso.

The International Research and Biotechnology Advisor of the Agency, John McMurdy, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Accra, the Ghanaian capital.

The planned investment over the next five years is to really take this cowpea technology from where it is now which is that we have basically shown that it’s tremendously effective in accomplishing what we want to do.

“It is to basically protect it against the maruca pod borer and our investments are really to push it in this last mile to get regulatory approval.

“Getting the seed productions systems in place, is probably close to $10 million over these next five years, specifically cowpea, to include the work in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and now Malawi, the newest project partner.

“We have made a lot of progress in cowpea. Ultimately we are not going to see it as a success until we actually get it out there. It’s great to hang our hats to show that it works. But it’s not really success until it gets out there.”

He said the innovative Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea Project carried out by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) would ensure the production of maruca-resistant cowpea for the African region.

Maruca vitrata, an insect, is the pod borer, which perennially damages cowpea pods on farms.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a soil bacteria. Its gene produces a particular protein that is very toxic to maruca. When put into the cowpea plant, it resists the maruca pod borer.

Mr. McMurdy explained that the Bt (biotechnology) gene injected in cowpea had been experimented effectively in maize, eggplant, cotton, and soya beans in the U.S. and other African countries and would prove useful for cowpea.

He said that while the work on the insect-resistant cowpea was the first project undertaken by the AATF, other innovations in maize and rice were ongoing at the foundation.

“We are already investing in some other crops with AATF. So with our support, AATF is working on developing rice varieties that better tolerate droughts.

“Varieties that better tolerate salinity particularly in coastal areas with water intrusion from salt water and they are nitrogen-use-efficient which basically means that they grow better without the use of fertiliser.

“We are also co-investor in a project led by AATF called the Water-Efficient Maize for Africa Programme (WEMA) which is really focused on taking the best technologies that are out there.

“It is through conventional plant breeding and also biotechnology to introduce drought tolerance into tropical maize that is suitable for growers.”

(NAN)