Dear AgricLanders
I am a potential farmer who is hoping to join a farm soon to learn somethings about basic farming. I developed interest in agriculture for many reasons which of course includes money and unemployment rate in Nigeria obviously (even though I'm just concluding my NYSC service)

For some weeks now I have been nurturing some questions in my head and I wish to open up this discussion to AgricLanders with opinions and facts so everyone can learn from.

We shouldn't always be talking about how much returns to project, we should also be worried about the environment, Mother Nature and quality of our produce which comes to the issue of growing organically.

My greatest fear isn't about inorganic farming actually, but it boils down to GMO and seeds (Genetically Modified Organisms) some call it Genetically Engineered seeds etc just a matter of nomenclature.

Few questions that every farmer must answer;
- what is our perception and knowledge about this?
- what is our contribution towards supporting it or against it?
- do we trust the source of our seeds?
- almost every thread, everybody is talking about hybrid seeds and so on, is there any relatedness between hybrid seeds and GM seeds?

About a year ago, I read somewhere that the previous administration and his minister of Agriculture (the new afdb president) were already distributing over 1.4m of BT/GM Cocoa pods to cocoa farmers and also BT cottons in the Northern Nigeria already, the same seeds that the India farmers are fighting against now?
What about the BT Cassava, cocoa pods and now Maize/corn

Dear farmers, I am an advocate of natural living and i so much respect and envy nature. This brings up the topic of healthy living.
The floor is open for facts and figures, better explanations from well learned folks in this field, seasoned farmers what are your challenges, seeds sellers and distributors.

Are we for or against GMOs in Nigeria? Our borders are porous to start with.

Let me just stop here and raise opinions.

Cc: jasper, Jethro, world1, soloxam, Lesgupnigeria etc.

GMO is very good and highly recommended. When you plant a genetically modified seed you tend to gain more because of the high productivity. The product of genetically modified seeds is two times that of normal seed. Basically GMO is the future agricuture in Africa.

WHAT IS GMO? A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Because this involves the transfer of genes, GMOs are also known as “transgenic” organisms. This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are one and the same. The term “genetic modification” is used both commonly and legally to refer to the use of recombinant DNA techniques, in ways that are not possible or desirable in nature, to transfer genetic material between organisms. This concept of genetic modification brings about alterations in genetic makeup and in the properties of the organism developed. This technique using genetic engineering is highly mutagenic and leads to unpredictable changes in the DNA and the proteins produced by the GMO that can lead to toxic or allergic reactions. GM proponents will argue that “genetic modification” has been used for centuries in an attempt to blur the lines and create confusion. Traditional genetics used selective breeding, tissue cultures, hybridization and other methods that assists nature but does not circumvent natural laws. The methods used to transfer the genes of modified DNA of a genetically modified plant are imprecise and unpredictable. These unintended changes are possible differences in the food’s nutritional values, toxic and allergic effects, lower crop yields and unforeseen harm to the environment that cannot be recalled.

Hybridseeds:
In agriculture and gardening, hybrid seed is seed
produced by cross-pollinated plants. Hybrid seed
production is predominant in agriculture and home
gardening. It is one of the main contributors to the
dramatic rise in agricultural output during the last half of
the 20th century.[1] The alternatives to hybridization are
open pollination and clonal propagation.[2]
All of the hybrid seeds planted by the farmer will produce
similar plants while the seeds of the next generation from
those hybrids will not consistently have the desired
characteristics. Controlled hybrids provide very uniform
characteristics because they are produced by crossing two
inbred strains. Elite inbred strains are used that express
well-documented and consistent phenotypes (such as high
crop yield) that are relatively good for inbred plants.[2]
Hybrids are chosen to improve the characteristics of the
resulting plants, such as better yield, greater uniformity,
improved color, disease resistance. An important factor is
the heterosis or combining ability of the parent plants.
Crossing any particular pair of inbred strains may or may
not result in superior offspring. The parent strains used
are therefore carefully chosen so as to achieve the
uniformity that comes from the uniformity of the parents,
and the superior performance that comes from heterosis.

Though it a copy and paste, am sure you can see that both are not same and u can desired which to use among the two......

The supposedly higher productivity of GMO crops versus Non-GMO is a myth. It has continually been proven to be false. That is why most countries in the EU are banning them. They have also been linked to cancers and tumors in animals and humans.

Please FLEE from GMO.