POTENTIAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION OF GENOMICS TO INDIGENOUS AND TRADITIONAL LEAFY VEGETABLES IN WEST AFRICA

Abstract

The application of biotechnology/genomics has been very useful in many fields. In agriculture, they have been used for the development of new genetic lines, rapid multiplication of improved crop planting materials and the detection and elimination of diseases in useful plants. However, the techniques developed from these important disciplines have not been applied to many indigenous and traditional leafy vegetables (ITLVs) that are sustaining the lives of poor rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper examines the importance of ITLVs in West Africa as well as the limitations of popularising them. An attempt is made to throw light on some of the tools of biotechnology/genomics that have the potential to solve many problems militating against the commercialisation of ITLVs in West Africa.