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The CIGB develops agricultural biotechnology with its own technology and on Cuban varieties that are genetically transformed, as an alternative for the sustained production of food and for the improvement of animal health, always thinking about food sovereignty and security, agroecology, sustainability and technological sovereignty, based on science, technology and innovation.
“There is no conflict between organic farming and GMOs. We are in favor of agroecology, which implies optimizing inputs to use the least amount of chemicals that can affect the environment and man and animals. GMOs can help in agroecological agriculture, to produce more methods that are more environmentally friendly ”.
“Our corn (CIGB transgenic hybrid) is resistant to the main pest that affects this crop in Cuba, the moth, an insect. In this seed the gene of a bacterium (Bacillus thuringiensis) is used. This bacterium has been cultivated in the world for more than a century and applied to crops to protect them. There is more than a century of knowledge that this bacterium is safe in agriculture. What was done was to take the gene from that bacterium and insert it into the genome of the plant (…). We chose corn and soybeans because they have a very high impact on food imports. We are working on sugarcane, beans… ”.
“We have a patent for a transgenic Cuban soybean seed. We have achieved a soybean that is resistant to the fungus, one of the pathogens that most changes this crop worldwide, such as Asian rust, which devastates crops in weeks (…) “.” And we have achieved another transgenic of soybeans that are under study, not in production, with very high resistance to fungi and that can be very useful for production in Cuba. Looking to the future, there has been interest from several countries to acquire Cuban seeds. “
“Towards the future, Cuban researchers are working to have a transgenic sugar cane, and there are also plans to work with beans, which are vital in the Cuban diet.”
Dr. Mario Pablo Estrada, Director of Agricultural Research at CIGB. Taken from Cubadebate, available at http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2020/11/10/transgenicos-en-cuba-el-encuentro-entre-necesidad-ciencia-y-tecnologia/.