(Business in Cameroon) - Started since 2012 in an enclosed environment and in an open environment in 2015, the trials of GMO cotton cultivation will soon come to an end. Indeed, the national cotton development company (Sodecoton) which is in charge of the project, will give the final results before the year ends, sources said.

Once the trials end, the transgenic cotton would be used across the country. For the record, back in 2015, Sodecoton launched a series of public consultations in the Far North region in order to seek producers’ views on the opportunity to introduce GMOs into cotton cultivation.

For 2018, Sodecoton eyes a production of 260,000 tons of cotton and plans to increase this quantity tenfold in the coming years through the introduction of GMOs. Cameroonian experts said, under this move, GMOs could quickly be introduced in the cultivation of highly prized cereals such as rice, maize or sorghum.

Brice R. Mbodiam