FG to enforce seed laws, deter fraudsters, says minister

·      * It is Illegal to produce, sell seeds without accreditation-Seed Council

Chief Audu Ogbeh- Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has promised that  the government would strengthen Nigerian Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) to enforce the seed laws and continue to deter those defrauding farmers through the sale of low quality seeds.  He made the promise at the council’s annual National Seeds Fair and Farmers Field Day held at Sheda, near Abuja.

He also assured that the government would “also empower our farmers by ensuring they have access to the best quality seeds”, noting that agricultural seeds play a pivotal role for the rapid development and transformation of agriculture.

He said that without a sustainable seed system, the country would not achieve her target of food sufficiency and that “we will be very far from achieving the benefits of an improved and transformed agricultural sector which is a catalyst for economic recovery and development”.

Dr. olusegun philip ojo Dg NASC

Continuing, he said: “Seeds as we know constitute the farmer’s most precious resource, therefore in making sustainable progress, a catalytic innovative approach must be adopted for ensuring a sustainable seed system to drive the growing needs and concern of the agricultural and economic sector of Nigeria”.

The minister who identified use of sub-standard seeds by farmers as one of the constraints to achieving improved harvests blamed some farmers for refusing to embrace good agricultural practices stressed that rejecting approved and enhanced seedlings would not be acceptable.

He said new varieties of rice have been produced at NASC which were  flood tolerant adding that “We hope to get the varieties which include the Faro 66 and 67 into the field in large quantity for farmers to plant in the near future.”

He advised farmers to use water that recede from the flood to replant rice to avoid shortage of the crop next year, adding “We are also hoping that as soon as the rain recede we encourage farmers again to replant so that the residual moisture in the soil plus irrigation can give another crop maybe by the end of December or early January otherwise we may be in serious trouble for millet, rice, maize and sorghum”

He commended NASC for its commitment to building a market-driven seed industry responsible for the production, distribution and marketing of adequate quantities of quality seeds.

The Director General of NASC, Dr Philip Ojo said it was illegal for anybody to go into seed production or importation without accreditation by the council or the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) and admonished all unaccredited seed merchants to change or face the consequences as Nigeria must encourage the enforcement of quality seed for the farmers.

He said the use of regulated, improved seeds was the way out for higher productivity and food security enhancement and advised Nigerians to desist from the use of fake and adulterated seeds.

He explained that the council had a national vision to build a market-driven seed industry responsible for the production, distribution and marketing of adequate quantities of quality seeds/ planting materials that were both accessible and affordable to all farmers and that its mission was to transform the Nigerian seed industry into a foreign exchange earner, key employer of labor and wealth creator.

He disclosed that It was pursuant to its vision that the council organised the ‘March for Improved Seed Adoption’ to create awareness for enhanced adoption and use of improved seed to increase demand and drive production of adequate quantities of improved seeds that are accessible and affordable.

The Executive Director, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), ......said that the availability, accessibility and credibility of seed and cost had been a major hindrance to the Nigerian farmers since the departure of the World Bank, pointing out it looked as if everyone had gone to sleep.

 The ARCN boss who was represented by Mr.Yarama Ndirpaya said: “The environment which the seed is used should also be considered and made favourable for farmers through the introduction of adaptable technologies that could be within the reach of farmers in their various localities”.

The Director General of National Biotechnology Development Agency, (NABDA), Professor Alex Akpa who said there was no way Nigeria could make progress in agriculture without the adoption of some science tools added that other countries which were doing well in agriculture had so far adopted biotechnology as a science tool to improve crop yield through the use of improved seeds.

Professor Akpa who was represented by a deputy director in the Agency, Dr Rose Gidado said that “the application of biotechnology in agriculture is basically to improve seeds, so that farmers can have access to quality seeds and improved seeds.  Seeds that can withstand the weather conditions, global warming, rise in temperature and those that can be resistant to pests and insects and those that can also be drought tolerant, flood tolerant and nutritionally enhanced .There is no way we can actually take agriculture as business without the use of the tools of science and technology. Of course, we are talking about biotechnology application”

He said further that “It has been safely used in other parts of the world, in all the developed economies that we have today, be it United States, Brazil, Japan, India, China and then Africa.  South Africa and Sudan are using it. This technology has been in use for the past 20 to 22 years without any health risk because of regulatory framework that is in place. Here in Nigeria we also have a regulatory framework, we have the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that this technology is safely used and practiced in the country”.

The NABDA chief executive announced the release of two improved varieties of cotton which has been tested to be high yielding compared to the conventional varieties saying “ these two varieties of cotton are very high yielding, they can give yield of 4.1 to 4.4 tons per hectare, and the conventional ones only give 250 to 900kg per hectare, so you can see the margin, so there is no way we can talk about economic diversification without talking about agriculture and there is no way we can take agriculture as business without the use of appropriate technology, like biotechnology.”

The country representative of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr. Boboh Vabi noted that most farmers hardly knew the difference between seeds and grains and that the lack of knowledge had slowed down the production of food as nobody effectively followed up the certification process of seed which had given room for adulteration. 

He added that safety was important when it came to seed production, as many had claimed to have improved seed in the market but they are not, thereby misleading the farmers.

Professor Oyibo said that community based seed production was not the right way to go, adding that the access to improved seed was both the process and the products, and that the promotion of community base seed production was wrong, saying that many varieties had been developed and released but were not backed up with commercialization.

The president of Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN), Mr. Richard Olafare said that policy issue is a big gap and the way forward was when “we have a proper value chain drive, looking at research and the market.”

Olafare who said that that the reason why early generation seeds had been halted was paucity of funding disclosed that ten billion naira was still being owed by the Government, which might put farmers’ access to improved seeds during the next year farming season in a tight corner.

The seed fair  attracted stakeholders including seed scientists, researchers, farmers, seed companies, development partners and it was targeted at showcasing the strides the council had made towards ensuring that research around seed production were aimed at addressing the core needs of farmers especially in the wake of the adverse effects of climate change so as to increase productivity, address nutritional needs of her population and tap into the business side of agriculture for economic growth and well regulated seed market.