15 April 2014. 2014 Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea Project Review and Planning meeting in Accra. The PBR project is a public private partnership coordinated by AATF to promote technological intervention that would optimise cowpea productivity and utilisation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The meeting brought together seed companies from Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, who are expected to play a key role in marketing the PBR cowpea in their countries.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) promoters of the Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea in Africa say the organisation was putting in place all necessary precaution for the successful commercialisation of the cowpea in the participating countries.
Dr Denis Kyetere, AATF Executive Director said at the opening of the review and planning meeting for the scientists, seed companies and country regulators holding in Accra, Ghana that:
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) promoters of the Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea in Africa say the organisation was putting in place all necessary precaution for the successful commercialisation of the cowpea in the participating countries.Dr Denis Kyetere, AATF Executive Director said at the opening of the review and planning meeting for the scientists, seed companies and country regulators holding in Accra, Ghana that:
“Commericalisation of the PBR cowpea is somewhat different from what we might be used to as conventional seeds. Besides registration, certification and variety release of the product there are requirements for regulatory approvals by governments in target countries for food, feed and environment safety.”
“These requirements are new and have not been implemented for food crops in Sub-Saharan Africa. We have therefore invited people with expertise in deregulating biotech products to share their experience with us so that the PBR cowpea will be deployed successfully. We encourage regulators to take advantage of this opportunity so that they will be ready to grant regulatory approval in due time,” Kyetyere said.
He said that PBR cowpea continue to make advances in the product development by successfully incorporating the BT trait into the farmers varieties, testing them in multi location trials in Nigeria and conducting the first Confine Field Trail (CFT) in Ghana. He added that it is about time for us to develop a strategy of how the product will be commercialized and made available to farmers.
Related: AATF project briefs
- Striga control in maize project brief
- Cowpea productivity improvement project brief
- Imrovement of banana project brief
- WEMA (Water efficient maize for Africa) brief
- Control of Aflatoxin Contamination in Maize and Peanuts in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Development of Nitrogen-Use Efficiency Water-Use Efficiency and Salt-Tolerant Rice
- Cassava Mechanisation and Agro-processing Project
- Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology
- Hybrid Rice: Breeding by Design – Developing hybrid rice with yield advantage
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