Agricultural bio-technology is a soft landing for Nigeria in the face of growing issues of food and nutritional insecurity, the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said.

Speaking in Kano, recently, at the unveiling of Sampea 20-T to farmers and other stakeholders in the region, the minister explained that agricultural biotechnology has the ability to quickly respond to issues of low productivity, malnutrition, insect and pest challenges as well as climate change.

Onu, who was represented by the Director General of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, maintained that the global landscape is experiencing new challenges and opportunities and science and technology is one of the ways to go in the present age.

Specifically, he noted: “Nigeria is gifted with vast land resources that has sustained us over generations, but this land is fast losing its fertility and even our age long method of farming, which involved using hoes and cutlasses, is no longer as productive as it used to be. Today, we have a population of over 200 million and feeding this population requires thinking outside the box.”

The Minister of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono, while addressing the audience, said that right from the inception of the administration, the Federal Government has given priority to addressing farmers’ constraints with a view to improving their living standards and enhancing their contributions to national development. Sun News