IAR&T-Centre of Excellency for improved seeds for self sufficiency in food production

 Seed Industry Development in Nigeria has become issues of critical importance in the Agricultural Sector.  It plays a frontline role in Nation development in terms of food security.  Agricultural research activities in most countries of Africa involve varietal development, its testing, release and registration.  Seed security strategies for Food Security Programmes enhance regular flow of seeds of staple food crops to the farmers.  The Institute of Agricultural Research and Training adopts a multidisciplinary approach to develop technologies directed at enhancing agricultural productivity with efficient low level external farming inputs.

The Institute is committed to producing high quality Breeders and Foundation Seeds for the use of seed companies to produce certified seed for production of grains by farmers.  In order to achieve high quality seed production, the Institute has six seed production stations located in five states across various agro-ecologies of South Western and Central Nigeria.  These are Ilora (Derived Savannah) and Kishi (Southern Guinea Savannah) in Oyo State; Ikenne and Ile-Ife (Rain Forest) in Ogun and Osun States respectively; Orin-Ekiti (High Rain Forest) in Ekiti State and Ballah (Southern Guinea Savannah) in Kwara State.By extension of her activities in developing seed industry, the Institute has developed adaptable disease resistant and high yielding varieties of maize and cowpea that have addressed production constraints of farmers.  It has also collaborated with other International Research Organizations such as International Institute for Tropical Agriculture to develop a number of maize and soybean varieties.  

Generally, harvesting of crops and threshing of soybeans, cowpea and kenaf or shelling of maize are carried out at the Institute’s Outstations.  They are afterward transported to the seed processing section of the Institute in Ibadan for processing.  The seeds brought from Outstations are allowed to undergo drying to maintain optimum moisture content of between 8 – 12% depending on seed type.  This eases machine processing, prevents seed germination, and allows the seeds to retain maximum qualities with genetic purity, viability, germination potentials, physical, analytical and storage qualities.  It also ensures prevention of diseases and insect infestations during storage.

 The Breeder and Foundation seeds are weighed and stacked on pallets separately.  They are further labelled given the name of the crop, the name of the Station where it was produced, varietal name, lot number, total number of bagged seed brought, field weight, date the seeds were received, etc.  Furthermore, samples of the seeds are taken to the Seed Testing Laboratory to ascertain the moisture content and other qualities like viability, germinability, seed vigour, etc.

Seed processing involves cleaning the seed samples of extraneous materials, drying them to optimum moisture levels, testing their germination and packaging them in appropriate standard containers for conservation and distribution.

The seeds with required safe moisture level are then cleaned by a machine called CLIPPER CLEANER which removes all extraneous materials that came with the seeds from the field, viz: broken cobs, straws, thrashes, broken seeds and weed seeds and other inert materials.  The cleaned seeds by this machine are conveyed by a specially designed conveyor belt into a DESTONER MACHINE that removes all stones from the seed lot if there is any.  The cleaned seeds are further conveyed directly into a machine called GRAVITY SEPARATOR that separate or grade seeds into sizes.  The bigger seeds are collected separately at a point as a grade A seed, the medium size seeds are also collected at another point as grade B seeds while broken cobs, and other extraneous matters not removed by the cleaning machine are collected as impurities termed Discards.

The Institute has standard processing plant equipped with multi seed cleaner and gravity separator that ensure prompt and timely seed processing of the seeds.  An air conditioned seed store equipped with mobile dehumidifier is used to maintain conducive seed storage environment while thermohygrometer is used to monitor the storage condition.  Quality has been the watchword of the Institute seed unit.  This has been possible with the standard seed testing laboratory used for internal quality control.

The grade A seeds are sold to Seed Companies and farmers for planting.  While grade B seeds are termed “GRAINS” which are not fit for planting but fit for consumption by both man and livestock.  After cleaning and separation, the seeds are weighed and packaged in 50 kg bags.  It is then treated with Aluminum phosphide against insect attacks and tagged with appropriate information such as Crop name, Varietal name, Germination percentage, Lot number, Seed class, etc.  These information on the TAGs are obtained from the National Agricultural Seed Council of Nigeria that is responsible to certify all the Institute’s seed production.

The seed bag is usually sealed using sealing machine or sewed by using bag sewer machine.

The packaged seed is then trolleyed to the cold room that has already been cleaned, washed, dried and fumigated for storage.

The bagged seeds in the cold room are stacked on pallet, avoiding them touching the ground or the walls to allow spaces for air circulation.In the cold room temperature range is maintained between 21^oC and below and a relative humidity of 30% and below, which have been found ideal for short term seed storage.  We monitor these two critical parameters for seed storage by using an instrument called Thermohygrometer.The Institute has two cold rooms for seed storage, one for Breeder seed and the other for Foundation seed to avoid mix up and contaminations.  Routinely, we check our store for insect infestation every month and seed viability every three months.At the beginning of raining season, farmers and Seed Companies patronize the Institute for stored good quality seeds.

The improved varieties are available in the Institute for farmers to grow in different agro ecologies of Nigeria.  Due to the quality of work done in IAR&T, it has consistently received patronage and support from different seed initiatives such as Alliance for Green Revolution of Africa (AGRA), West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) and West Africa Seed Programme (WASP).  Seed Certification Officers of National Agricultural Seeds Council, South Western Region has closely and consistently monitored seed production activities of the Institute.  Other agencies such as ADPs, Universities and Research Organizations have relied on the Institute for seed supply.  Since 2012 to date WAAPP has indented and collected 18 metric tonnes and 92 metric tonnes of breeder and foundation seed of maize respectively from the Institute while WASP had collected 9 metric tonnes of breeder and foundation seed of maize from the Institute.Also, in line with the objective of the Institute to develop manpower for seed industries, the Institute has facilitated or supported training of some Plant Breeders, Seed Scientists and Agronomists who have been well trained as certified officers for seed production.   They have in turn trained over 120 other relevant stakeholders on different seed related topics such as Agro Practices in Seed Production, Seed Production in Self-Pollinating Crops, Seed Production in Cross-Pollinating Crops, Seed Testing, Certification and Quality Control, Seed Processing and Storage, and Seed Distribution and Marketing. It is worthy of note that the improved seeds are always given to secondary schools in the South Western region as a mean of encouraging the use of quality seeds among the younger generation.

The Institute seed production is confronted with a number of constraints/challenges such as, how to improve the operational efficiency of our tractors and farm implements, lack of 10 tonnes truck for transporting seed from production station to our processing plant in Ibadan, lack of supplementary irrigation facilities to produce off season seeds, need of some vital processing equipment in our processing plant and seed testing facilities for quality control.

The management of the Institute under the leadership of the dynamic and erudite scholar,            Prof. James Alabi Adediran is leaving no stone unturned to seek for support to surmount the challenges we have in seed production and processing in IAR&T, Ibadan.

Agricultural stakeholders in the country and Sub-Sahara Africa interested in improved seeds of maize, cowpea, soybean and kenaf should feel free to contact the Executive Director of the Institute.

Insecurity, market hinders tomato production.

The high level of insecurity in the northern part of the country has been described absurd, as it has deterred the economic development, and job creation for thousand s of youths in the northern part.  Without being faced with insecurity and insufficient facilities the tomato industry is enough to reduce the high rate of unemployment and also create wealth for the youths. As little attention is going to tomato production, tomatoes production is met with a lot of problems, the number one problem after farmers’ production is the low market response which affects pricing of the commodity, and farmers rarely cover their production cost. 

All this assertion is according to the findings conducted by group of scientists from Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR)  Ahamudu Bello University Zaria (ABU) as the finding reported a lot is produce, which means we have no enough processing and storage facilities for value addition thereby making people to pay more for little tomatoes.

The report’s finding also reflected negative effect of the production fluctuation and consumption during the off season as the importation of concentrates are on the high side to produce tomato paste thereby creating jobs in the importing country of Chine and the rest. But assuming there are enough processing facilities on ground, producers can produce three or four times in a year, after which the remaining fresh tomato fruit will be moved to the factory for crushing and also convertion  concentrate that will be sold to other countries that have factories for further processing  into ketchup, tin tomatoes and others.

Food Farm News spoke with a tomato seller, Mrs ola who said the lack of storage facilities has affected the small scale tomatoes sellers we get less tomato for a very exorbitant price, which also makes us to sell at a high price. The sector requires more attention; for more wealth to be created with tomatoes I have been able to solve lots of financial problem, the fruit is very promising and should be given all necessary attention it needs to develop” said mrs ola. 

Food Farm News  spoke with the Deputy Director FDA  Horticulture, Mr. Kanu Micheal O.E,  said “after going round the country on inspection, it was discovered that most of the factorywere not functioning, in fact  a major factories, Vetrus tomatoes is no longer in the market, after visiting the company to know why they are out of market, we found out that the company really mean to move upward, they took loan, brought the needed facilities, started the installation of the facilities with their foreign counterparts , but insurgency came, and because the  factory is located at the boundary between Gombe State and Borno State, the foreign partners had to leave, but Vetrus was left to decide if they will guarantee the safety of their foreign partners. The equipment is presently left rusting away without technical partners to install them.

The factory alone, when it takes off will boost the tomatoes industry and the value chain will be enough to engage and create employment for 2/3 of the youths in the Northeast, because the company was not just ready to install equipments but also increase their capacity from 450 to 1,050 metric tons of paste.

“Despite changes faced  by tomatoes the federal government created a staple crop processing zone and that of the horticulture, tomatoes in particular was situated in kano state- kadawa which, produces about 50% of tomatoes in Nigeria and the tomatoes processing is a government enabled situation, where government have the environment , good road network, water and everything needed for the private sector is to come with their equipments, install and start processing”.

The good news is that Dancer, the Dangote group has set up a tomato processing factory of 1000 metric tons of fresh fruits per day, it is completed and presently the Federal Government and the Dangote group are working together and in no distant time the tomatoes farmers can smile for off takers.

Last year the tomatoes growers association and tomatoes farmers in kano were given 1ton of hybrid seed free of charge by the ministry, just to show them that the use of high quality seeds will increase yield, and help you to reduce cost, make profits and also undergo training, after which their capacity were build to make sure they know how to use the seed inorder to obtain to obtain high yield for the first time.  Some of them reported 30 ton per hectare, more than the 18 ton they had gotten earlier, before given the hybrid seed”. 

The seed was not only taken to kano state, but the  tomato hybrid seeds was also  taken  to about 12 states . kano got the highest because it is the major producer of tomatoes in the country and was  picked as the tomato producing zone by the ministry and dangote. It is expected that the insurgency in the Northeast of the country will soon come to an end, which will increase productivity. 

A reliable source also disclosed that they are about creating a tomatoes farmer  interface , which will consist the processor, the farmer, the government, the private sector and the input dealers, to come together to discuss what it will take the country to produce  more.

IITA, AFDB target massive rice cultivation in Nigeria

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Africa Development Bank (ADB) are joining forces to ensure making Nigeria totally free from rice importation that is gulping billions of naira annually thereby striking her name away from the list of countries in the continent that import huge amount of this produce.

These international organizations are targeting Nigeria through a project tagged “ Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa”  instituted to help boost production of cassava, maize, rice and wheat in African countries.

In a workshop organized at IITA, Ibadan, the project coordinator Dr. Chrys Akem, said Nigeria has been slated to immensely benefit in the international project meant to stimulate massive production for local and export markets in rice and othercrops which the present administration has already embarked upon through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda adding that “The major objective is to ensure food and nutritional security. Another aim is to raise the income level of the farmers so as to better their livelihood”

He added “ At inception in 2013, our modest goal was to attain 20 per cent yield increase in each of the communities we are working midway into the project, we realized that in some of the communities, we were way ahead of doubling that yield increase. When the project began, wheat yield increase was 1.5 tons per hectare. Today, the yield increase is between five to seven tons per hectare across given regions”

“Nigeria is at the top of countries that import rice but this project is equally aimed at improving rice production in the country and putting a stop to rice importation. If we keep producing at the level we are now, we will not reach the level we aspire to achieve food security.

“We are introducing mechanization and start production in larger areas. We have imported a lot of machines from Asia for cultivation and threshing. Once we are able to train the local artisans to produce massively, Nigeria will become a rice exporting nation.”

Action Aid, farmers frown at agric budget cut

A None Governmental Organization called Action Aid together with practicing farmers in the country have berated the declining budgetary allocation to agricultural sector saying the downward review would negatively impacted on the development of the food sufficiency and security.

It is noted that the present administration is being rated by some Nigerians as the best performing government in agriculture compared to other regimes in the past, but Action Aid, Nigeria and other stakeholders seem to take a different views based on declining budgetary allocations to the sector in the past three years.

A recent report on the 2015 agriculture sector budget analysis by Action Aid indicates that budgetary allocation to agriculture fell from 1.7% of the national budget in 2013 to 1.44% in 2014 and further declined to 0.9% in 2015.

The report made available to our reporter by the Food and Agriculture Program Advisor of Action Aid Nigeria, Azubike Nwokoye, stated that “the very low allocations remained consistently meagre, not meeting 10% Maputo Declaration in Malabo on agriculture and food security.”

The report further stressed that annual allocations to agriculture “are insufficient to galvanise growth and development impact intended through ECOWAP/CAADP, the National Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) or the current Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).”

It also analysed that from 2011 – 2015 the federal government’s agriculture budget allocations have been less than 2% annually. 2015 allocation, which is a paltry 0.9% as it was stated “makes mockery of the government naming the 2015 budget as a ‘Budget of Transition and Hope”

“The situation is always further exacerbated with low quality of spending in general as well as low budget utilization of yearly allocated budgets across States,” the report maintained.

The report noted that out of the total of N39,151,988,128 budgeted for agriculture in 2015,  total capital budget is just 17.7% (N6,944,000,000), while the total recurrent is 82. 3% (N32,207,988,128). Action Aid described the situation as unacceptable as it means that what gets to support the smallholder farmers who sustain the sector will be ‘quite abysmal’.

Action Aid urged the government to dedicate 10% of the total budget to agriculture especially now that oil prices are falling and give more attention to the smallholder farmers, especially women and youths.

The group also called on the agriculture ministry to create a forum for the participation of smallholder farmers and Civil Society Organizations in the budgetary processes for ‘ownership and in order to also inform articulate priorities’.

Other stakeholders in the agriculture sector including the President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Architect Kabiru Ibrahim and former President of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), Dr. Abba Y. Abdullah, who spoke to our reporter on the issue, maintained that the annual agriculture budget was low and urged the government to comply with the 10% Maputo commitment.