BY SYAHMI IEKHSAN
KENYA’S baby’s breath, a widely used adornment within bridal bouquets could potentially become Kenya’s first commercially cultivated genetically modified (GM) flower.
In an article by Quartz Africa titled Colouring the Future, recently an Israeli company, Imaginature had submitted an application that is currently being reviewed by the Kenyan Biosafety Authority to further produce and cultivate the Baby’s Breath also known as Gypsophilia flower for commercial use.[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]
With the flowers natural colour being white, the colour alterations via by genetic manipulation will provide a variety of colours from something as light as pink or as heavy as green.
Safety wise, though the decision to cease field trials of other GM crops such as GM maize and cotton, GM flowers have a different safety concerns, as quoted from a report by the United States Department of Agriculture, it concludes:
“Given the non-controversial nature of the GM plant in terms of food and environmental safety, Gypsophila may be the first GM plant to be commercialised in Kenya.”
With the company’s aim of cultivating ten hectares of the Baby’s Breath crop and a harvest of 8 million cut flowers worth, the company had this to say:
“Our target is to introduce new and exciting cut-flower varieties. The technology is only a means to meet this goal,” the company said in its application to Kenya’s Biosafety Authority.
“We are targeting markets that have a regulatory system in place and are open to import transgenic flowers.”
It is also added that should they be successful, Kenya would be the first to both authorise and cultivate such varieties of the Baby’s Breath flowers.
A decision is expected in the next few months following the closure of an open forum for public comments this year on July 15th leaving the Biosafety Authority to review the “safety assessments, socio-economic considerations and comments.”
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