The Federal government has launched the Revised National Agricultural Seed Policy, 2022 in a bid to enhance farmers’ productivity and boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through agriculture.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar while launching the policy on Tuesday, said the Revised Policy has removed the ambiguous areas in the erstwhile 2015 National Seed Policy.
Dr Abubakar said the policy strengthened the identified weaknesses and introduced innovations that optimised the regulatory, promotional and protection roles of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) in ensuring that farmers have access to improved quality seeds.
Some of these innovations he said, include the introduction of SEEDCODEX as a quality authentication tool and traceability targeted at curbing adulteration, and the participation of third-party seed inspectors in the quality assurance process.
Others according to the Minister are the establishment of satellite and private seed testing laboratories and strategic seed banks to act as reserve and buffer stocks in case of food emergencies and encourage active participation of women and youth in the seed business along the seed value chain among other innovations embedded in the new policy document.
“Some of these achievements have enabled the availability of 89,512.10 MT of assorted improved seed varieties for planting by farmers in the 2023 cropping season. Also, Nigeria is about depositing the instrument of ascension to the UPOV General Assembly for Nigeria to take advantage of the international seed trade”, he said.
The Director-general, of NASC, Dr Phillip Ojo, said the policy will further enhance government efforts at ensuring that Nigeria is not only food secured but a net exporter of agricultural produce among the committee of nations.
Ojo said the National Agricultural Seed Policy, 2022 has leveraged the advent of technology and innovations in the seed industry.
He further expressed the commitment of NASC to the full implementation of the policy after the launch.
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