While the technologies of genetic engineering are quite commonplace, it was not always the case. The scientists that blazed the trail hold tremendous history, and it is good to visit with them to understand where the technology came from and where it is going. Dr. Maurice Moloney was there in …
Kenyan scientists have used modern biotechnology to develop two crop varieties that are expected to be released in the country soon.
Simon Gichuki of the Kenya Agricultural, Livestock Research Organization’s (KALRO) Biotechnology Research Institute (BioRI) said that the maize and cotton varieties are already awaiting the National Performance Trials before they …
The Director for Crop Resources in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF), Mr. Okasaai Opolot, has appealed to journalists in Uganda to increase their efforts in informing the public about the products of modern biotechnology. He also urged them to enhance their efforts in helping the policy …
They say desperate times call for desperate measures and for farmers in northern Uganda grappling with climate change, intercropping rice with bananas has helped a great deal, writes Tobbias Jolly Owiny.
Growing banana in rice fields and vice versa would probably have been dismissed as “unthinkable” by traditional farmers, but farmers …
B4FA Fellow Michael Ssali reports:
A FAO news release titled “Multi-pronged approach key for effectively defeating fall armyworm in Africa” has indicated that solutions to the problem include development of pest-resistant, drought tolerant and disease resistant hybrid crops that are more resilient to the fall armyworm, the use of bio-pesticides, pheromone …
As CRISPR-Cas9 starts to move into clinical trials, a new study published in Nature Methods has found that the gene-editing technology can introduce hundreds of unintended mutations into the genome.
“We feel it’s critical that the scientific community consider the potential hazards of all off-target mutations caused by CRISPR, including single …
The 43rd African Development Bank Group (AFDB) annual meeting ended on a high note on Thursday in Ahmedabad, India, with applause on the optimism generated by the bank’s good balance sheet and the early successes of its High 5 priorities, especially in agriculture and energy.
The Bank signed series of project …
How do we help to increase food production? We know that increasing the levels and quality of education generally is essential to raising productivity – and agriculture is no different. For starters, improving the understanding and use of soil and techniques such as irrigation; growing the use of technology, and …
With a vast untapped potential in agriculture, African countries are keen to gain from India’s experiences, including the “green revolution”, to bring about a transformation and enable their 420 million poor people to come out of poverty.
Africa is estimated to have 65 percent of world’s uncultivated land but only about …
Studies indicate that rice is consumed by the half of the world population and it is also a staple food in the middle east and in Asia. In Ethiopia rice is not a widely cultivated crop but there are vast paddy fields which have the potential for cultivating rice. Rice …
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