Govt urged to consider GMOs

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ZIMBABWE should reconsider its position on genetically modified (GMO) crops as they have the potential to increase production and earn the country foreign currency, a parliamentary committee heard on Tuesday.
The country has an anti-GMO policy.
Stewart Mubonderi, the Cotton Producers and Marketers Association chairman, told the Lands and Agriculture portfolio committee that government’s anti-GMO stance had not been supported by any research.
“We do not think former Agriculture minister Joseph Made had a valid reason when he said government would not allow GMOs. This position has to be reviewed. GMOs will enable local farmers to produce more, even enough to export so that the country earns the much-needed foreign currency,” he said.
Even in times when the country has been forced to turn to grain imports and food aid to avert hunger, government has remained strict, inspecting all grain imports at points of entry.
This year, close to six million Zimbabweans are facing hunger due to one of the most intense droughts on record, which resulted in widespread crop failure and livestock deaths.
Appearing before the same committee, Nancy Zitsanza, the Agriculture Marketing Authority of Zimbabwe chief executive, said cotton output is expected to decline by more than half as a result of a poor season where the quality and weight of the crop was affected by the drought experienced in the country.
“We rely on the national forecasting committee, which is led by Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (Agritex), under the ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement. Results of the crop assessment indicate that we are expecting 68 137 tonnes of cotton. The crop was affected by the drought we experienced during this past production season,” she said.
Last year, cotton output reached 140 000 tonnes from a peak of 352 000 tonnes in 2013, but plummeted in recent years chiefly due to poor funding and drought.

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