Source: CropBiotech Update

East African Business Week reports that Kenya is moving toward the introduction of a genetically modified (GM) cotton variety in a bid to revive the country’s cotton production sector. The GM cotton, a Bt variety resistant to cotton bollworm, is currently undergoing contained field trials at a farm in the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Mwea, central Kenya.

The contained field trials will take four months, and aim to evaluate the efficacy of the GM cotton against Bollworm infestation. The trials also seek to evaluate the crop’s economic advantage. All biosafety measures are in place for the trials, which will undergo periodic inspection by members of the country’s National Biosafety Council (NBC) and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).

Kenya’s cotton production has been declining since 1986. This is due to many factors, both environmental and economic, including damage by cotton pests, which account for losses of up to 32% of the total cost of production to cotton farmers.

Read the complete article at
http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1347&Itemid=9.