Two ABU Dons Championing Nigeria’s Agricultural Biotechnology Revolution

By Bello Hamza
Two scientists from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria are said to be leading the trail of Agricultural Biotechnology in the country especially going by the steady increase of population while agricultural productivity is also on a steady decline. Which has resulted in the prediction of a food crisis even as nearly a quarter of the population goes to bed hungry?
This comes even as some researchers across the country have not given up on the possibilities of turning around the situation for good as they are thinking outside the box by bringing innovative solutions to address the challenges of low productivity, low yield, crop failure and pest-insect infestation.
The scientists in the forefront in this quest include Professor Mohammad Faguji Ishiyaku, an experienced Professor of Plant Breeding at the Department of Plant Science, and the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. He is currently the Executive Director of the Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru and the Principal Investigator of the Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea, genetically modified beans against insect pests and weed.
Another Scientist leading the biotechnology revolution in Nigeria is Professor Rabiu Adamu, a Professor of Agricultural Entomology at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State. He is the principal investigator of TELA maize, a transgenic drought-tolerant and insect-protected maize varieties to enhance food security in Sub-Saharan Africa is another researcher making waves with the introduction of biotechnology tools in the breeding of a Maize variety capable of withstanding Fall ArmyWorm, Stem Borers and Mild Drought.
Professor Ishiyaku is the brain behind the development of the PBR cowpea (beans) which came from constraints faced by farmers in the field while cultivating the conventional bean variety. “Over the years, no farmer has been able to produce good beans (cowpea) crops without battling insects due to the constraints such as insect pests, drought (little or no rainfall) and weeds.
Ishiyaku said it took 10 years of research, field trials by scientists at the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, in collaboration with various partners under the coordination of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and biosafety confirmation before the Federal Government finally approved registration and commercial release of a new genetically modified cowpea (beans) resistant to pod-borers (a ravaging pest, also known as maruca vitrata).
Professor Rabiu Adamu is one of the leading Scientist in biotechnology revolution in Nigeria, he is the principal investigator of TELA maize, a transgenic drought-tolerant and insect-protected maize varieties to enhance food security in Sub-Saharan Africa is another researcher making waves with the introduction of biotechnology tools in the breeding of a Maize variety capable of withstanding Fall ArmyWorm, Stem Borers and Mild Drought.