Drought tolerant maize, insect resistant potato, virus resistant maize and nutritionally enhanced sorghum are crops currently being developed through genetic modification in South Africa. Prof. Jennifer Thomson, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, is hopeful that these crops would be commercialized in the future.

Prof. Thomson’s team at UCT is working on drought tolerant maize, tested with genes from a “resurrection plant” that can withstand months in a dehydrated state and come back to life in 72 hours once exposed to water.

Similar project that addresses drought tolerance for maize is the Water Efficient Maize for Africa or WEMA. The WEMA is a public-private partnership project that aims to bring royalty-free drought tolerant maize varieties to farmers of sub-Saharan Africa.

Moreover, Prof. Thomson and her team are also developing maize that is resistant to the maize streak virus (MSV) using replicase genes in virus-resistance development. She reported that MSV is endemic to Africa, and has caused huge economic losses to both commercial and small-scale farmers. Development of the MSV-resistant maize would be beneficial to the entire African region.

Dr. Thompson shared the status and development of agricultural biotechnology in South and sub-Saharan Africa in a recent seminar held last 27 October 2010 at SEARCA, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. (Sophia M. Mercado)

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Jenny A. Panopio
Special Project Coordinator & Network Administrator
Biotechnology Information Center
SEAMEO SEARCA
College, Laguna 4031
Email: jap at agri.searca.org
Tel: (63-49)536-2290 loc 169 or 406
Tele/Fax: (63-49)536-4105
URL: www.bic.searca.org