Having successfully conducted trials and commercialized genetically modified cotton, Malawi has taken an extra step to venture into genetically modified maize, exploring the efficacy of a bioengineered fall army worm resistant maize seed.

The genesis of GM cotton in Malawi was not without controversy as different sectors of society expressed mixed reactions on the pros and cons on environmental safety, and later the realities came to light on the issue of pricing.

It is a reality that some cotton farmers have been unable to purchase the cotton GM seed, leading to poor output as they mix it with local varieties despite the government ordering that it be the only cotton seed grown in Malawi.

Now, given that maize is the staple food for Malawi, how prepared are scientists and the regulators to circumvent this challenge. Annes Mwale finds out.

Until September 2016, farmers in Malawi never knew a thing about the fall army. Army worms had always been there, but not fall armyworms.

When these striped greyish-green caterpillars with dark-brown or black heads invaded the fields of Malawian farmers that year, all hell broke loose!

As of January, 2018, up to 382,000 hectares of rain-fed maize, sorghum and millet had been affected by fall armyworms, further impacting on the lives of approximately 6.5 million Malawians classified as food insecure that year.

Several remedies were employed, both organic and synthetic but with little impact.

I travelled to Chigojo Village on the outskirts of Blantyre City to meet with members of Chipande Club in Chipande Extension Planning Area.

Edina Mitembo is the secretary of the club, and she explains how fall army worms have been affecting her maize production, resulting in poor crop harvest.

 “Fall army worms are very dangerous to our maize fields, once the field has been attacked by these worms, the flowering or tussling process gets affected which in turn prohibits the maize crop from having cobs and maturing," she says.

While this is the case, farmers are trying their best to protect their maize crop from fall army worms. Some apply ash in their fields; others use sand or smear their crop with fish soup to attract ants that in turn eat these deadly army worms.

In addition to these biological methods, there is a whole list of chemicals that the ministry of agriculture recommends to deal with the pests that have troubled the country for the past eight years.

For most farmers, these chemicals are expensive, costing them a lot of money amid the rise in the prices of farm inputs such as fertilizer.

Still, there is little impact as the threat has naturally declined. And experts say with the erratic weather conditions being experienced, such as prolonged dry spells, erratic rainfall and high temperatures, fall armyworms are here to stay.

This is where the need for a modern biological method comes in, says Dr Abel Sefasi, the research lead in biotechnology at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR).

 “There are a lot of problems faced by maize farmers in the country. When we have drought our maize varieties do not respond well  to lack of rainfall or when there is too much water in the soil; we have different diseases like the maize streak virus, and storage problems like the large grain borer; but another prominent problem that we have had for the past eight years is the fall army worm which is difficult to handle whether you have planted your maize in winter (madimba) or whether we have planted early,” Dr Sefasi says.

If not controlled, these pests can reduce a farmer’s maize harvest by over 50 percent, says Dr. Sefasi.

“We needed to have an urgent solution because our beloved farmers have suffered long enough as they were doing their own experiments like applying ash, bonya [fish] soup and even sand in their maize fields; that is why we turned our focus to biotechnology which is the use of improved breeding practices to solve this problem."

Dr Kingdom Kwapata is a senior lecturer in biotechnology at LUANAR. He explains how the seed, infused with a gene from the bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt), will work by releasing a natural protein to fight the fall army worm.

"This is protein is incompatible with the fall army worm in such a way that it prevents it from eating for laying eggs on the crop. For the fall army to survive it has to lay eggs which turn into larvae. Because they fail to feed on the crop, the fall army worms eventually die of hunger.

“The maize field is called a confined field trial where the field is placed in restricted area to make sure that it is grown in such environment to make it certain that the performance of the maize is well observed without being disturbed by the external environment as well as following the biosafety information to ensure that it is grown far away from the local varieties which helps in monitoring the trial before approval,” Dr Kwapataa explains.

Dr. Kwapata is confident that the trial will be successful based on the interim results.

Maize is Malawi’s staple grain. One major issue of concern for most farmers that adopted the cultivation of GM cotton is the high cost of seed. It costs almost 50 times higher than the conventional cotton seed varieties.  This is the fear for some individuals and experts given the importance of maize in Malawi.

We put this question to Dr Kwapata.

He admits that pricing of the seed could be high but says purchase and use of the BT maize seed will be the choice of the farmer who would want to capitalize on the likely high levels of yield to come from it.

“Pricing could be high because the production costs of the seed itself is higher than the conventional maize; at the same time by using this seed, farmers will benefit as the seed will be of high resistance to these fall army worms, making the seed to be high yielding,” adds Dr Kwapata.

For Malawi to reap the benefits of the GM maize seed, farmer Mitembo suggests that the government should consider subsidizing the price under the already existing Affordable Inputs Programs (AIP).

“We would like to ask the government that once the seed is approved, they should consider putting it under the subsidy program as most of us cannot manage to buy this maize seed at a premium price,” Mitembo stresses.

McPherson Anzeru Malunga is also a farmer on the outskirts of Blantyre City. He has experience with GM cotton, and concurs with Mitembo on the need for the government to subsidize the proposed GM maize seed.

“Buying the seed under subsidized farm inputs would help us because many farmers fail to purchase improved seeds due to high prices of the seed; this would also help to reduce the food insecurity rate as many farmers will be able to purchase the seed and have enough maize for annual consumption”, adds Malunga.

Dr Tamani Nkhono Mvula, an independent agricultural expert, while applauding the trial at LUANAR, suggests that all the myths surrounding GM products should be cleared before the approval of such crops for production in Malawi.

“What we need is clearance from the scientist for this trial as it is a food crop which cannot be compared to cotton seed because which is not consumed by people. People should be aware that what they are consuming is good for their health as these maize seeds are not natural,” Mvula says.                     

Dr. Nkhono Mvula further agrees with Mitembo on why it is important that the seed be under the subsidized Agricultural Inputs Program.

“Once the seed has been approved, the government should consider supporting these farmers by including the seed under subsidized farm input programs. This will help farmers to have easy access to the seed," explains Dr Nkhono Mvula.

And what is the take of the National Association of Smallholders Farmers in Malawi, the umbrella body for smallholder commercial farmers? We spoke to chief executive officer Betty Chinyamunyamu.

"Farmers should be able to look at the greater good of the seed than looking at the high prices only. Anything that is produced in that manner is more expensive than seed that you would keep from your own farm for the next growing season,” comments Chinyamunyamu.

The ministry of agriculture, according to senior official in the department of research services Grace Kaudzu, is monitoring the trial at LUANAR, collecting and analyzing data, hence cannot commit to comment on the concerns of seed prices now.

Director General of the National Commission for Science and Technology Gift Kadzamira shares the farmers' concerns.

She explains that GM seeds tend to cost high as they are mostly imported, and as such stakeholders have recommended the integration of the technology in local varieties to minimize the cost of the imported seed.

“The high prices are because the seed is imported. That is why stakeholders have recommended integration of this technology into locally available varieties to minimize the cost of these imported seeds. If this approach works, it will help to minimize the cost as the country will be able to produce these varieties in our own country," she observes.

While it is agreeable to most experts and farmers that the use of genetic modification would help improve maize production in Malawi and indeed other developing countries, caution must be taken.

One key factor as seen in cotton is the cost of seed. If not handled well, poor farmers would not be able to afford these seeds, which could widen the gap between wealthy and poor farmers.

As the trial is underway at LUANAR, these social economic realities must be taken into consideration now, not after the BT maize seed is commercialized.

[By Annes Mwale - Freelance Journalist, Lilongwe, Malawi]