One of the foremost media outfits in the country, the ‘Media Trust Group’ publishers of Daily Trust newspapers through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm, the Daily Trust Foundation held a ‘3-Day Multimedia Journalism Training on Investigating the Agricultural Sector’.
Delivering her paper, the Country Coordinator, OFAB Nigeria, Dr Rose Gidado spoke at the training and called on the journalists to ignore all incomplete information peddled in some quarters by the opponents of the GM technology. According to her, the media should take precaution against incomplete information as it is worse than no information. “GMOs are safe and the global adoption is on a continual increase” she said while telling the success story of the launched Bt. Cowpea which is insect Maruca resistant. The new GM crop results in the reduction in pre-harvest losses, increased yield and improved livelihood of the farmers. She said modern biotechnology has advanced the knowledge of genes, gene organization and function while it created the techniques to locate genes, cut them and transfer them from one organism to another, with high precision.
The OFAB Coordinator further explained that the National Biotechnology Development Agency and National Biosafety Management Agency were established to ensure that the practice of Agricultural Biotechnology contributes its quota to the food and nutrition security of the country while maintaining environmental safety. She made the participants understand the basics of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and how it differs from hybrid. The benefits of the Bt. Cowpea were listed to include reduction in pre-harvest losses; Reduction in over-reliance on expensive, potentially damaging, and increasingly less effective chemical insecticides that are in routine use; Resistance to the legume pod borer; Increase in yields while reducing or eliminating insecticide contamination of food, soil and water and Increase in the supply of a key food that is safe to eat and well accepted by African farmers as well as consumers.
The aim of the Daily Trust training event is highlighting the activities going on in the Nigerian Agricultural sector to enhance good reportage and to mark the commissioning of the Daily Trust Foundation training facility.
Participants at the event include Professor Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, University of Ibadan; Dr. Folarin Adekoke, National Agricultural Seed Council; Alhaji M.D. Abubakar, L&Z Farms; Dr. Junaidu Maina; Engr. Halladu, Former MD Sokoto River Basin Authority; Mr. Unekwuojo A. Edime, President, Cashew Farmers Association of Nigeria; Hajiya Hadiza Bala, General Manager, Human Resource and Management Services, Media Trust; Malam Naziru Mika’ilu, Editor-in-Chief of Daily Trust; Malam Mannir Dan-Ali, Director, Daily Trust Foundation; Theophilus Abbah, Programme Director of the Daily Trust Foundation; Mr. Usman Ali Lawan, Framer-in-Suit, Nasarawa who all took part in the technical session.