Food Security: Quality seeds, bedrock of productive agriculture – Minister

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Abubakar, says good and quality seeds is the bedrock of agricultural production.

Abubakar said this on Tuesday, at a working visit to the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) Sheda, Abuja.

He said that quality seed was the foundation of crop production that would ensure food nutrition and sufficiency as well as economic growth in Nigeria.

The minister said the importance of quality seeds could not over-emphasised in agriculture noting that ”seeds are everything, if you sow a quality seed you will reap a good produce”.

Abubakar gave assurance that the ministry would support the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) to produce good seedlings for farmers that would also be fit for importation.

Earlier, the Director.-General, National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Dr Phillip Ojo, assured the minister of NASC’s support to ensure that he succeeds in achieving the mandates of the ministry of Agriculture.

He told the minister that registered Seeds Companies in Nigeria had continued to grow from the days of NSS (Sole Player in 1975) to 314 seed Entrepreneurs in 2019 (Operating under different categories and producing various crops).

The minister said that in 2020, 103 companies were delisted for non-performance thereby bringing the number of Seed companies to 211.

”In the same year, also, 94 additional companies were licensed to produce Seed, to date, there are 305 Seed Companies in Nigeria producing under different categories.”

”It may also interest the minister to know that Nigeria supplies over 50 per cent of the seeds used in the West African Sub region,” he said.

Ojo implored the minister to assist the agency get operational vehicles for seed field inspection, seed law enforcement activities, seed quality assurance, and facility inspection among others.

He equally asked the minister to assist the agency acquire additional land for research as well as other activities.

”We are asking the minister to help us acquire land behind us to assist us with our work.”

”Also, the issue of vehicles is very germane for us to go to the farms, we implore you to use your good office to assist us ensure farmers have the best of our seeds,” he said.

The minister also visited a Rice Mill Factory under construction at Sheda to inspect the project and its progress so far.

On prices of food stuffs, the minister said that the Federal Government was doing everything possible to bring the prices of food stuffs down by collaborating with international organisations to boost agriculture.