By Michael J. Ssali
Kenya has finally approved commercial planting of GMO cotton. According to the digital weekly newsletter, “Biotech Update”, the Kenyan Cabinet chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta, two weeks ago, approved commercial planting of GMO cotton following positive results from five years of field trials of the crop.
GM cotton, seeds, otherwise referred to as BT cotton seeds, will be available to farmers in all the country’s cotton-growing counties by March 2020. By approving BT cotton production, according to the newsletter, Kenya aims to be at the forefront of global textile and apparel production along with such countries as India, Pakistan, Brazil, USA, and China.
At the moment, Kenya reportedly has about 50,000 cotton farmers that produce 30,000 bales against a yearly demand of 368,000 bales.
“Adoption of BT cotton which is genetically engineered to resist the destructive African bollworm infestation is expected to boost productivity from the current estimate of 572 kg/ha to 2500kg/ha, and lower the cost of production by 40%,” reads the newsletter.
