Nigerian Government encourages farmers to embrace technology, improved quality seeds
The Nigerian Government has urged farmers to embrace technology and plant improved quality seeds to increase productivity and yield per unit area.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, made this appeal during the validation of the Revised National Agriculture Seed Policy.
Abubakar said the revised seed policy document would foster better utilization of improved seeds in Nigeria and increase productivity among smallholder farmers.
“The success of the government’s efforts towards the attainment of national food security and other goals of agricultural development largely depends on the performance of the seed industry,” he noted.
The minister said that the revised seed policy has removed the ambiguous areas in the old policy and strengthened the identified weakness of the erstwhile.
The new policy, Abubakar added, has introduced innovations that will optimize the operations of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) in its regulatory, promotional and protection roles in the seed industry.
“Such policy efforts for the seed industry operate in the same policy space that governs the performance of the entire agricultural economy,” the minister added.
On his part, the Director-General of NASC, Dr. Philip Olusegun Ojo, noted that the review process, which commenced last year with a series of activities and consultations, has resulted into the development of a revised policy called “Agricultural Seeds Policy 2021-2025.”
According to him, the revised policy has leveraged the advent of technology and innovations in the seed industry, adding that the council will be committed to full implementation of the policy after validation.
“The council has introduced some innovations and technologies, which include SeedCodex, Third Party Certification, Seed Tracker, NASC Seed Information Management Platform (NASIMP), NASC Electronic Survey Tool (NEST), E-Library, Molecular Diagnostics System.
“The council has also facilitated the enactment of the Plant Variety Protection Act No. 5 of 2021, which established the secretariat for Plant Variety Protection in Nigeria; and also enabled Nigerian membership of the UPOV,” he said.
Source: Agro Nigeria
