In the first part of this article
published last week, it was reported that Nigeria can only produce 2% of the sugar it consumes annually with the
remaining 98 % from exportation. According to National sugar development
council, Nigeria is the second largest buyer of refined sugar from Brazil. In
2013 alone over US $ 865 milion was spent on the importation of 2.5 million
tons of refined sugar. The major hindrance to Nigeria being self-sufficient is
at the level of production. Globally, sugarcane production is faced with
several challenges; the main drawback faced by sugarcane production is the
vegetative nature of its conventional propagation. Sugarcane is clonally
propagated from cuttings of stalks and propagation from cuttings facilitates
the spread of pathogens, which might result in epidemics. Since sugarcane
stalks can be infected by various pathogens without exhibiting any symptoms;
there is a high risk of disease transfer from one place to another through
conventional propagation. For a rapid development of our local sugar industry
there is the urgent need to enhance the productivity of the sugarcane. Large
scale production of sugarcane will require large quantity and quality planting
materials, which cannot be produced sufficiently to meet the demand using
conventional techniques. Similarly, the development of cultivars with high
yielding potential, high sugar content and resistant to diseases and pests
through conventional breeding programmes requires a very longer period of time
(8-10 years) to develop and release an elite sugarcane variety. It also allows
the perpetuation of diseases from generation to generation. Biotechnology
techniques have been extensively developed and applied for several thousand
plant species including sugarcane. Their uses are of high interest for
multiplication, transformation and conservation of plant germplasm. Tissue
culture technique (micropropagation), a biotechnology approach can overcome
these problems by providing mass, uniform, disease free plantlets within a
short period of time (1-3 years). Adoption of biotechnology therefore, would
not only help in transforming local sugar industry in Nigeria, but also help in
transforming the economy. This is the task that was taken by Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria as community service, which is one of the three cardinal
pillars of a university establishment.
The task of decupling national
sugarcane production is by all means a herculean one, which can be achieved
with careful planning, high level of commitment and meticulous execution of the
plan. This task, voluntarily taken by Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) through her
research centre (IAR) and Department of Plant Science is expected to make
tangible impacts on Nigerian sugar industry. Considering the university's
zealousness to participate in solving developmental problems, it is not
surprising that ABU is assiduously working to accomplish the task. This is
because ABU Zaria, one of the first generation Nigerian Universities is no
doubt an icon of nation building in view of its giant contributions since
establishment over fifty years ago. Series of modest achievements in the
technological strides of the university in recent years were reported by this
Column in October, 2015. The achievements were made by the University's
academic Departments, Institutes and Centres that deal with human concerns such
as health, agriculture, education, energy, legal studies, biotechnology,
disaster management, veterinary, finance, communication, spatial information
and ICT with impacts on the larger society within and outside the country.
Therefore, this task is one of the numerous efforts of the university on daily
basis. It is done to advance the
frontiers of learning and break new grounds, through teaching, research and
dissemination of knowledge of the highest quality as contained in the
university's Strategic Plan.
As mentioned in the first part of
this article last week, the task taken by ABU is to use the concept of tissue
culture to mass produce disease-free planting materials from the
biofactory. The biofactory is headed by
Prof. Inuwa Usman, a plant breeder and accomplished academic of international refute
with his dedicated chain of scientists and technicians. It is equally equipped
with bioreactors and other relevant instruments to produce plantlets. Thus,
the tissue culture is one of technologies generated by the university and identified
to be of great benefit to the nation when used to address the sugarcane
production challenges as well as multiplication of the planting materials in a
short time. What is the progress made so far, one year after the biofactory
establishment?
The
biofactory named as "IAR/NSDC Sugarcane Biofactory" is a factory that
uses cutting edge technology to propagate sugarcane in large quantity within a
short period of time. The factory makes massive production of sugarcane using
Temporary Immersion Bioreactor System (TIBS), Conventional Tissue Culture (CTC)
a process commonly referred to as in
vitro Micropropagation. In addition to in
vitro Micropropagation, sugarcane is produced through the ex vitro Micropropagation using single
germ culture (M.P.B.). With the in vitro Micropropagation
alone, the biofactory can produce an estimated 1 million true to type, disease
free seedlings of relatively the same height from one parent plant alone within
one year. The in vitro Micropropagation
method occurs in a sterile environment, and employs the use of sterile
initiation, multiplication and rooting growth media, supplemented with
essential micro and macronutrients, for sugarcane production. The ex vitro Micropropagation (M.P.B) on the
other hand involves regenerating plant from single gems obtained from
pretreated sugarcane stock plants. The germs are raised on suitable substrates
to produce healthy sugarcane seedlings. With this technology an estimated 30
hectares can planted from a single hectare of sugarcane.
At
present the biofactory has the capacity to produced one million seedlings. With
install capacity of 1000 bioreactor bottles containing 25 plants each and
multiplication rate of X10 the biofactory can produce an estimated 2.3 million
seedlings at 9 bioreactor cycles per annum.
After two cycles of split at seed bulking centers, it is expected to be enough
for planting estimated 11 thousand hectares (at 1,430 plant/hectare) of
industrial sugarcane cultivated annually. The production capacity of the biofactory
is projected to be around 10 million seedlings in the next 5 years. After
bulking, 10 million seedlings are expected to generate planting materials for
estimated 70,000 hectares per annum.
Currently, the Biofactory
provides the following services
(i)
High quality sugarcane plant material in huge
quantity produce using tissue culture technology
(ii)
Provision of large amount of sugarcane plant material produced using MPB technology
(iii)
Provision of high quality planting material
of other important crops such as pineapple, Banana, Cassava, date palm etc.
(iv)
Provision of readymade coconut coir for
acclimatization of tissue culture plants and raising other important garden
plants.
(v)
Provision of training on tissue culture and
ex vitro rapid propagation of plants and consultancy services for the
establishment of Biofactory, Greenhouse and other acclimatization centers.
To increase efficiency and opportunities for
acquiring modern technology on tissue culture, the activities of the biofactory
are being diversified, already
discussion is ongoing with partners in Brazil on the possibility of producing
ornamental plants for export to Middle East and Europe.
The
benefits of biofactory are enormous; Sugarcane planting materials are produced by in vitro techniques using tissue culture
and MPB technology in the greenhouse. The biofactory provides improved
seedlings for the establishment of commercial sugarcane plantations nationwide.
Similarly, the biofactory will soon be a major source of planting materials to
sugarcane out growers and independent farmers. Again, the plants produced from
tissue culture are superior in performance. Unlike the conventional methods in
which seedlings are produced from plants of all categories, the seedlings
produced using tissue cultures are clones of selected parent plants with
desired qualities and this will no doubt outperform the seedling produced using
conventional methods. The biofactory makes use of improved,
Brazil-imported and some Nigerian sugarcane for tissue culture and thus,
customers are sure of getting the best of seedlings of various varieties that
are both of high quality and disease free, thanks to the method of
micro-propagation employed. Although,
tissue culture seedlings are relatively expansive, the MPB will provide quality
seedlings at a lower cost affordable to resource poor farmers.
What are the challenges to the biofactory? Like any other
industry, the biofactory faces some challenges. Worthy of note is the
increasingly variable climate that causes the seedlings to face the challenge
of survival especially those in the greenhouse. This is seen most especially
during the harmattan period. During this period, high contamination levels as
well as low multiplication rates which are peculiar to almost all sugarcane
varieties at this period are observed in the greenhouse. However, with the
availability of functional humidity sensor for humidity control and sprinklers
in the greenhouse, the required amount of humidity and moisture can be provided
to combat this challenge. Due to the high multiplication rate of sugarcane in
the tissue culture, the need for more labour force is required, most especially
grafters. The Poor response of some sugarcane genotypes to in-vitro culture and variation among genotypes to culture
requirement is another challenge being faced. To overcome difficulties in the in-vitro response and variation among
genotypes, different regeneration strategies are being employed in the initial
regeneration process and culture condition for any given genotype to ensure
maximum efficient in regeneration.
In conclusion, the effort of Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria is both commendable and paying, already tangible results have been
recorded and the biofactory is ready to take up challenges of vegetative
propagation of all crops needing such method for seedling production. The
Federal government, state governments and industries should take advantage of
the tissue culture technology being provided by the biofactory in ABU Zaria to
enhance the production level of these important crops.
With
additional report from Dr. Maimuna Abdulmalik
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