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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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Today, we take you to a small banana plantation near Kampala. |
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The trees are healthy and green, |
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but Andrew Kiggundu does not like what he sees. |
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"The disease on the leaves you see right now is not the wilt, |
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it is a different disease called black sigatoka. |
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It is just killing off the leaves and causing significant yield loss. |
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This is a big problem, |
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although of course not as much as the wilt, |
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because the wilt just destroys the whole plant." |
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Andrew Kiggundu works with the National Agricultural Research Organization, |
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also known as NARO. |
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The Ugandan government agency is developing genetically engineer bananas. |
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The new plants are meant to resist black sigatoka |
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and banana bacterial wilt, |
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which has been destroying a large amounts of the country's banana crop. |
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Uganda is the world's top consumer of bananas. |
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NARO Research Director Wilberforce Tushemereirwe says |
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this is why it is so important to produce healthy plants. |
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"The disease keeps on moving around wiping out garden after garden, |
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so you will go to areas where you find they have changed |
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from banana to annual crops. |
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That has already introduced food insecurity, |
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because they are not used to handling annual crops." |
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The central African nation already permits |
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testing of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. |
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Lawmakers are considering a bill |
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that would permit the development |
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and distribution of such organisms through out the country. |
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But some activists say genetically modified organisms |
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would be dangerous to human health and the environment. |
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Giregon Olupot is a soil biophysicist at Makerere University in Kampala. |
| [02:10.18]"There are a range of options that risk to be wiped [out] |
, |
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just by this technology. |
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With bananas, tissue culture has worked well to engineer healthy plants. |
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You then take these plants to a clean garden and maintain field hygiene. |
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Why are we not giving emphasis to that technology?" |
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Most genetically modified seeds are patented, |
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this means farmers must purchase them after each planting. |
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Mr Olupot says, this might be possible for profitable farmers, |
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but smaller farmers depend on their own seeds. |
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In his opinion, selling genetically modified seeds |
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to small farmers could trap them. |
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"If you are to go commercial, it has to be on a large scale. |
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Now the farmers we are talking about, |
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on average, have 0.4 hectares of land. |
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It is simply not suitable for our farmers." |
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A public institution is developing Uganda's genetically modified bananas. |
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NARO says no patent laws will restrict their use. |
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But Mr Olupot says this would probably not be true |
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with genetically modified crops introduced to Uganda in future. |
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Mr Kiggundu says opponents of genetically modified plans |
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have been strong in their criticisms. |
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He says many farmers are now afraid of GMOs. |
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The Ugandan parliament is expected to pass |
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the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill before the end of the year. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. |
