Nigeria’s seed need for five significant crops has been pegged at 312,555.69 MT, which is expected to give not less than 31 million Mt of grains. The five considerable crops include Rice, Maize, Wheat, Soya Beans and Sorghum.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, stated this during the opening session of the 6th edition of Seed Connect Conference and Exhibition with the theme ‘’ Global Declaration of Food Emergency – The Role of the Seed Industry and Ensuring Africa’s Food and Nutrition Security.’’
According to him, over 300 thousand seeds have been provided to the farmers out of the five crops the federal government earmarked for ambition in 2024. Outlining critical pathways for achieving the target, he revealed that certification of planting materials and other short- and medium-term strategies are essential points of emphasis.
He said, “The Ministry has outlined a series of critical pathways to solve the food security challenges. These pathways are streamlined into short-term, intermediate and long-term actions.” “One immediate priority is the certification of available planting material for some food security crops in the dry season farming of 2023/2024, which we flagged off in Jigawa state last Saturday, 25 November 2023.”
Aliyu noted that the ministry aimed to cultivate more than 70,000 hectares of wheat with financial assistance from the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket Scheme (NAGS-AP) project. He said the National Agricultural Development Fund, the Bank of Agriculture, and the Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation will continue to provide financing support to farmers, but it will be short-term.
He stated thus, “Nigeria’s seed requirement/need for five major crops of Rice, Maize, Wheat, Soya Beans and Sorghum in 2024 is 312,555.69MT of seeds which is expected to give almost 31million Mt of grains’’.
Recall that Nigeria’s food inflation for October stands at 31.5% and has risen consistently since the President’s declaration in July. In July, President Tinubu declared an emergency on food security and moved the issues relating to food security to the National Security Council.
