Nigeria’s National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Materials recently approved two new Bt cotton varieties for commercial release at its 26th meeting in Ibadan. The varieties are Nigeria’s first home-grown transgenic cotton developed by Mahyco Nigeria Pvt. Ltd and the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The two varieties, MRC 7377BG11 and MRC7361BG11, are expected to generate a yield of 4.1-4.4 tonnes per hectare compared to the local variety’s 600-900 kg per hectare, according to a report in a Nigerian newspaper.Nigeria's National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Materials recently approved two new Bt cotton varieties for commercial release at its 26th meeting in Ibadan. The varieties are Nigeria's first home-grown transgenic cotton developed by Mahyco Nigeria Pvt. Ltd and the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.#
According to Alex Akpa, director general and CEO of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), the new varieties will save farmers the trouble of contending with the local conventional variety that is no longer accepted in the international market.
The varieties have the potential of being adopted in all the cotton-growing regions of the country with a maturity duration of 150 -160 days, he added. (DS)
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