By Iddi
Yire, GNA
Accra, Oct 6, GNA – Mr Eric Amaning Okoree,
Chief Executive Officer, National Biosafety Authority (NBA), has said that the
practice of slash-and-burn was as unfavourable as climate change, and both are
threats to the sustainability of agriculture.
He said when someone sets a parcel of land on
fire, soil organisms and the insects that form the major parts of pollinators
were burnt.
Mr Okoree said these soil organisms, which
prepare the soil for it to be able to hold water for the plants to absorb, were
thus eliminated.
He said, in this regard, the very basis of
agriculture is being destroyed through such practices.
Mr Okoree said as a result of such practices
the types of crops and food produced decades ago could not be produced these
days; adding that “agriculture and lives are threatened because of the
situation in which we find ourselves”.
Mr Okoree made this known in his remarks at
the “Ask About Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Engagement” with
the National Biosafety Authority (NBA), a forum organised by the Alliance for
Science Ghana.
The forum sought to create a platform for
farmers, scientists, journalists and students to have an encounter with
officials of the NBA.
Mr Okoree said scientists have found that in
certain cases, crop plants could not grow well because they do not have the
necessary natural and capabilities to do so and modern biotechnology could
impact that capability for the plant to grow.
“Who will expect that rice can grow in a
saline soil; a soil which has salt but modern biotechnology has taken genes
from a plant that grows in a saline environment and put it in rice, and now
rice can be grown in a saline area along the shore”, he said.
Mr Okoree said the Authority does not release
GMOs in the country but serves as the regulator of modern biotechnology and as
such grants permits for GMOs to be researched on.
Mr Richard Ampadu-Ameyaw, a Senior Scientist
at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- Science and Technology
Policy Research Institute (CSIR-STEPRI), said food security issues, low
production, land degradation and climate change were factors that needed more
attention so far as agriculture was concern.
He said there were technologies, however, the
reality was that the technologies were not able to meet the challenges of
today, therefore, there was a need for another technology; and one of them was
biotechnology with its associated GMOs.
Mr Ampadu-Ameyaw, who doubles as the National
Coordinator for Open Forum Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), urged Ghanaians
to go for biotechnological products and GMOs; adding that “the farmer has the
right to cultivate what he or she wants but we should not also stop others from
making their own choice”.
Ms Slyvia Tawiah Tetteh, a member of Alliance
for Science Ghana, said Ghana was working towards introducing Genetically
Modified Foods into the country’s food chain.
She said work was ongoing on Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) cowpea, and nitrogen use efficient, water use efficient and
salt tolerant (NEWEST) rice for release onto the market sometime soon.
She said, however, the debate over whether
Ghana should accept GMO foods or otherwise has continued unabated, and a lot of
concerns had been raised about the technology.
Ms Tetteh re-affirmed their confidence in
Alliance for Science Ghana with regards to the assurances that scientists all
over the world had repeatedly stated that GMOs were safe, and that it is a
crucial tool that could help revolutionalise Ghana’s agricultural sector.
Alliance for Science Ghana is a network of
farmers, scientists, communications persons, students and other well-meaning
Ghanaians working to ensure improved food and environmental security in the
country.
The Alliance works with agric sector
stakeholders to enhance access to agricultural innovation as a means of
ensuring food security, improving environmental sustainability, and raising the
quality of life for farmers.
GNA