By Jimoh Babatunde

The Director-General, National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) , Dr Philip Olusegun Ojo, has disclosed that the council and the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) were working to ensure that improved seeds were made available to farmers.

Speaking during a road show on the effect of fake seeds in Ibadan, Oyo State recently, he said the council is making efforts to improve local cultivation of wheat by making seeds available to farmers.

Ojo said LCRI had produced wheat varieties that could garner more yields per hectare, adding that in line with the plan that a national data base on seed production has been created to support the wheat action plan in order to enhance research and improve productivity.

He said the target states are Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Borno, Zamfara, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto, Gombe, Yobe, Adamawa and Katsina.

So far, he said the council had registered 156 seed companies. In addition, he said the council would ensure seed testing, quality control, and certification processes for classes of seeds.

To this end, he said NASC was supporting research partnerships to develop new varieties of wheat, and other staples required to feed the nation.

In line with the seed sector development policy designed to handle seed needs across the country, Ojo said research institutions and the universities had mobilised to take responsibilities for crop breeding.

According to him, there is effort to achieve food self-sufficiency and security with the production of adequate quality and quantity of improved certified seeds.

On fake seeds, he said firms that are caught selling illegal seed will be sanctioned.

A major seeds distributor at the Dugbe market, Ibadan, Mr. Adenitan Solomon said seed dealers are supporting the NASC on the war to curtail the problem of seed adulteration.

Farmers, Solomon said, are encouraged to look out for seeds with the tag of NASC as every seed bag must have a tag from the Council.

The President, Southwest Agro Inputs Dealers Association, Alhaji Akinmade Olayinka, attributed the use of poor quality seed by farmers to lack of awareness on availability of better performing crop varieties that are high yielding, disease and drought tolerant.

Stakeholders say the steps taken so far by the government is capable of improving local production of the commodity this year, local farmers are capable of producing two million tonnes of wheat annually, amounting to about $2 billion.

Meantime, The National Agricultural Seeds Council has called for the review of seed policy in line with the regional and international seed regulation procedures and global best practices in the seed industry.

The Council’s Director of Planning, Mr Joseph Adelugba, made the call at the 41st National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development meeting in Kano recently .

He said that “the existing seed policy provides that policies shall be reviewed every three years.

“The policy review process includes the review of existing seed policy and consultation with key stakeholders in the sub-sector.”

Adelugba said that under the policy, the Federal Government was to facilitate the production and distribution of sufficient quantities of high-quality seeds of improved varieties of all relevant crops to farmers.

He added that this was necessary in order to ensure the production of the required food, feed and fibre, pointing out that government institutions would be supported to produce adequate seeds needed by farmers.

The director said that “the National Seed Policy applies to all activities that deal with any matter relating to planting seeds and vegetative planting materials.”

According to him, the private sector will be encouraged and supported to produce sufficient quantities of certified seeds that are required for farmers’.