Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Efficacy of drought-tolerant and insect-protected transgenic TELA® maize traits in Nigeria

  • Research
  • Published:
Transgenic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Assessment of efficacy of drought tolerance (DT) and insect protection (Bt) genes in maize genotypes is invaluable for commercialization and production of transgenic maize in Nigeria. Seven maize hybrids, known as TELA® maize, with stacked events of Bt insect protection (MON89034) and drought tolerance (MON87460; DroughtGard®) and their respective non-GM versions (isohybrids) developed through the TELA Maize Project were evaluated in confined field trial site at Zaria in 2020 and 2021. The objective was to assess the efficacy of stacked DT and Bt genes to seek deregulation and commercialization of both traits in Nigeria. Significant (P < 0.05–0.01) differences were observed among genotypes (G), environments (E) and genotype × environment interaction (GEI) for grain yield and most other traits under stem borer (moth species) and fall armyworm infested, drought stress, and optimum-moisture conditions, except E and GEI under drought. TELA® GM hybrids with Bt MON89034 had 19% higher yield than their non-GM isogenic versions, and 40% higher yield than the commercial checks under the target pests infestation. The foliar damage score of all the TELA® GM genotypes was ≤ 2 relative to their non-GM isogenic versions which scored ≥ 4, indicating the effectiveness of the Bt MON89034 gene in conferring resistance against stem borer and fall armyworm. Under moderate drought, pairwise comparison showed TELA® GM Hybrid 1–1 and Hybrid 2–1 had 12.4–20.4% higher (P < 0.01) yield than their isogenic versions. Under optimum-moisture condition with pests controlled, the TELA® GM and their isogenic hybrids were similar, but both had 32% higher yield than the commercial checks. Adoption of TELA® GM technology by farmers as adaptation strategy to cope with climate change, will ensure sustainability of maize production and productivity in Nigeria.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abubakar B (2021) Maize production incentives in Nigeria. President Maize Association of Nigeria. Presentation at the 2021 Nigeria Maize conference Abuja 12th April 2021

  • AgroNews (2019) Drought-tolerant corn in the United States: research, commercialization, and related crop production practice. http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail-29722.htm. Accessed 6 Sept 2020

  • Badu-Apraku B, Oyekunle M (2012) Genetic analysis of grain yield and other traits of extra-early yellow maize inbreds and hybrid performance under contrasting environments. Field Crops Res 129:99–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badu-Apraku B, Oyekunle M, Obeng-Antwi K, Osuman A, Ado SG, Coulibaly N, Yallou C, Abdulai MS, Boakyewaa GA, Didjeira A (2011a) Performance of extra-early maize cultivars based on GGE biplot and AMMI analysis. J Agric Sci. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859611000761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badu-Apraku B, Akinwale RO, Menkir A, Obeng-Antwi K, Osuman AS, Coulibaly N, Onyibe JE, Yallou GC, Abdullai MS, Didjera A (2011b) Use of GGE biplot for targeting early maturing maize cultivars to mega-environments in West Africa. Afr Crop Sci J 19:79–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badu-Apraku B, Fakorede MAB, Oyekunle M, Yallou GC, Obeng-Antwi K, Haruna A, Usman IS, Akinwale RO (2015) Gains in grain yield of early maize cultivars developed during three breeding eras under multiple environments. Crop Sci 55:527–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castiglioni P, Warner D, Bensen RJ, Anstrom DC, Harrison J, Stoecker M, Abad M, Kumar G, Salvador S, D’Ordine R, Navarro S, Back S, Fernandes M, Targolli J, Dasgupta S, Bonin C, Luethy MH, Heard JE (2008) Bacterial RNA chaperones confer abiotic stress tolerance in plants and improved grain yield in maize under water-limited conditions. Plant Physiol 147:446–455

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eckebil JP (1991) New frontiers of food grain research for the 1990. In: Menyonga Taye Bezuneh JY, Yayock S (eds) Progress in food grain research and production in semi-arid Africa. OAUSTRC-SAFGRAD, Ouagadougou, pp 3–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Fajemisin J, Efron Y, Kim SK, Khadr FH, Dabrowski ZT, Mareck JH, Bjarna-son M, Parkinson V, Everett LA, Diallo A (1985) Population and varietal development in maize for tropical Africa through resistance breeding approach. In: Brandolini A, Salamini F (eds) Breeding strategies for maize production improvement in the tropics. FAO and Istituto Agronomico per L’ Oltremare, Florence, pp 385–407

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2019a) Statistics. Accessed 12 Oct 2019a

  • FAO (2018) Statistics. Accessed 10 Nov 2019

  • FAO (2019b) Statistics. Accessed 9 Sept 2020

  • HarvestPlus (2004) Breeding crops for better nutrition. http://www.harvestplus.org/S. Accessed 4 Jan 2006

  • ISAAA (2018) Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops: 2018. ISAAA Brief No. 54. ISAAA, Ithaca

  • Nemali KS, Bonin C, Dohleman FG, Stephens M, Reeves WR, Nelson DE, Castiglioni P, Whitsel JE, Sammons B, Silady RA, Anstrom D, Sharp RE, Patharkar OR, Clay D, Coffin M, Nemeth MA, Leibman ME, Luethy M, Lawson M (2015) Physiological responses related to increased grain yield under drought in the first biotechnology-derived drought-tolerant maize. Plant Cell Environ 38(9):1866–1880. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12446

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olaniyan AM (2015) Maize: Panacea for hunger in Nigeria. Afr J Plant Sci 9:155–174. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJPS2014.1203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olaoye G, Bello OB, Abubakar AY, Olayiwola LS, Adesina OA (2009) Analyses of moisture deficit grain yield loss in drought tolerant maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm accessions and its relationship with field performance. Afr J Biotechnol 8(14):3229–3238

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oyekunle M, Badu-Apraku B (2017) Agronomic performance of drought-tolerant maize hybrids in diverse environments of lowland tropics. J Crop Improv 31(6):743–757. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427528.2017.1347910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyekunle M, Badu-Apraku B, Hearne S, Franco J (2015) Genetic diversity of tropical early-maturing maize inbreds and their performance in hybrid combinations under drought and optimum growing. Field Crop Res 170:55–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyekunle M, Haruna A, Badu-Apraku B, Usman IS, Mani H, Ado SG, Olaoye G, Obeng-Antwi K, Abdulmalik RO, Ahmed HO (2017) Assessment of early-maturing maize hybrids and testing sites using GGE biplot analysis. Crop Sci 57:1–9. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2016.12.1014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pu J, Wang Z, Chung H (2019) Climate change and the genetics of insecticide resistance. Pest Manag Sci 76:846–852. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5700

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute (2002) SAS user’s guide. Version 9.2. SAS Institute Inc., Cary

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by TELA Maize Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), through AAFT (INV-010395). The royalty-free donations to smallholder African farmers of Events MON 89034 and MON 87460, regulatory packages, maize germplasm, and supply of seed of the hybrids for this work by Bayer are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are immensely grateful for the technical support provided by IAR field technicians.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria

    M. Oyekunle, R. S. Adamu & M. M. Abdulmalik

  2. Bayer Crop Science, South Africa Bayer (Pty) Ltd Place, 27 Wrench Rd, Petit, Isando, 1600, South Africa

    E. Ndou

  3. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), P.O. Box 1041-00621, Nairobi, Kenya

    Y. Beyene

  4. African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), ILRI Campus, P.O. Box 30709-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    S. O. Oikeh

Authors
  1. M. Oyekunle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. S. Adamu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. Ndou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Y. Beyene
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. M. Abdulmalik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. S. O. Oikeh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Oyekunle: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing - Original Draft, Data Curation, Writing - Review & Editing, and Visualization. R.S. Adamu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing, Project administration E. Ndou: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Data Curation, Writing - Review & Editing. Y. Beyene: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Writing - Review & Editing M.M. Abdulmalik: Methodology, Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing. S.O. Oikeh: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Oyekunle.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. However, Bayer owns Monsanto, the inventor of MON87460 and MON89034 that were donated royalty-free (without payment of technology fee) to smallholder African farmers.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oyekunle, M., Adamu, R.S., Ndou, E. et al. Efficacy of drought-tolerant and insect-protected transgenic TELA® maize traits in Nigeria. Transgenic Res 32, 169–178 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-023-00345-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-023-00345-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation