FG varietal committee releases six grasses for pasture, and others

 

The National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock/ Fisheries domiciled in National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology ( NACGRAB), Ibadan, Oyo state has registered and released six improved pasture varieties to enhance animals' feeds along with hybrid maize, wheat, millet, pepper, tomato, rice, cowpea, sesame, barley and soybean. The event took place on last week Thursday at Lafia Hotel, Apata, Ibadan.

Chairman of the National Varietal Release Committee ( NVRC), Prof. Olusoji Olufajo, having subjected all the candidates who appeared before him to unbiased scientific criticisms one by one from members, therefore approved the registration and release of the six pasture grasses along with other varieties to enhance President Tinubu's food security program.

Conspicuous research Institutes and Universities at the 35th meeting of the NVRC that came with their candidates for registration includes Agricutural Research Institute ( IAR) Samaru, Zaria, National Animal Production Research Institute ( NAPRI), Lake Chad Research Institute ( LCRI) Maiduguri, National Cereal Research Institute ( NCRI), Badegi, Niger state, National Institute for Horticultural Research Institute ( NIHORT), Ibadan , International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ( IITA), Ibadan, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi and Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Harvest Plus and Department of plant Breeding and Seed Science, College of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, University of Ilorin, University of Technology, Minna with collaborating private companies namely Export Trading Group( ETG) and Agriculture Seedco Nigeria Limited.

Also at the meeting was Prof. E.A. Iyayi, Special Adviser to the Minister,  ministry of livestock with representatives from Federal Ministries of Innovation, Science& Technology, and Agriculture and Food Security.

Prof. Olufajo expressed happiness about the retroactive registration and release of pasture seeds as forage crops for livestock food. He added that more focus on fisheries is needed to ensure the fulfillment of his committee's mandates while appealed for financial support from the major affiliated ministries of the Federal Government ( FG) for a better committee secretariat.

All six different improved grasses for pasture and two other legumes (1 and 2) brought by NAPRI in collaboration with IAR were all approved for registration and release. 

Also, all the six hybrid maize brought by IAR in collaboration with two different private seeds companies named ETG inputs Nigeria and Agri Seedco Nig. Limited were registered and released for commercial multiplication for farmers. They were ETG M401 and ETG M601, while extra early maturing (SC 451) with early maturing ( SC 563), and medium maturing ( SC 618) were the collaborative work of IAR/ SeedCo . The medium maturing top cross maize called SAMMAZ 77, with 10.8t/ha was also registered and released by the NVRC.

LCRI with IAR also got three barley lines registered and released by the national committee, and they are LCRISAMBARLEY 1, 2 and 3, with each having 18.8% protein, 15.25%, and 2.4% ash content in a descending order.

Registered and released are four varieties of highly bio-fortified hybrid pearl millet presented by LCRI in collaboration with ICRISAT, CIMMYT and HarvestPlus. They are registered and released as LCIC MH2, LCRI MH3, LCIC MH4, and LCIC MH5. All these releases were all collaborative research work.

The three wheat varieties ( SC W9103, SC W9105, and SC W9106) also presented by Dr. M. A Dawud were all registered for their commercial characteristics of more yield with 4.5t/ha and insect pest resistance stability. The products were in a joint collaboration between LCRI and SeedCo Nigeria Limited.

All four candidates brought by the National Cereal Research Institute were registered, having met the descriptors' standard for registration and release. They were FARO 71 and 72 with zinc bio-fortified enhanced nutrients for children, and a lowland rice peculiar. The other two are designated as ADVANTA 8200 and Swarna 2 were said to be preferred over FARO 44 by farmers for their agronomics traits and grains quality.

The four (4) candidates from the National Horticultural Research Institute ( NIHORT) were all approved for registration and release by the national committee, as Prof. Olufajo applauded NIHORT in view of the many vegetables and pepper seeds that are being imported for planting in Nigeria. They are HORTITOM 4 and 5 with strong tolerance to wilt bacteria and high fruit yield, while HORTIPET 1 and HORTIPET 2 are promising to enhance yield for pepper commercialization towards economic growth as well.

NCRI and IITA two improved candidates brought to enhance the low production of soybeans in Nigeria, were all registered for their farmers' preference and tolerance to stress. The two are named NCRISOY5M and NCRISOY6M.

The nomination of only the cowpea candidate by the technical subcommittee chairman, Prof. S. G Ado, to the NVRC was approved, but with an observation that the farmers must be well trained about the planting period that will ensure seed germination.

Finally registered and released were the two sesame seed candidates presented by NCRI in collaboration with University of Technology, Minna, and their nomination is based on the performance of the two on the farm station, multi locational and on farm trials with farmers' preference. Both are to be named NCRI BEN 06E and NCRIBEN 07E.