The Federal Government, in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seed Council, has launched a comprehensive training program for farmers and key stakeholders in the agriculture sector, focusing on quality assurance and crop certification.
According to The PUNCH, the training initiative officially commenced in Jos, Plateau State, and represents a significant step in enhancing the agricultural landscape.
The acting Director General of the National Agricultural Seed Council, Dr. Khalid Ishiaku, emphasized the government’s commitment to safeguarding the interests of farmers and eradicating the circulation of substandard agricultural seeds in the country.
The training, conducted as part of the “Programme for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively-propagated crops in Africa,” aims to bolster the efficiency of seed systems for specific crops and thereby contribute to improved food security in Nigeria.
Dr. Ishiaku highlighted a pressing issue within Nigeria’s agricultural sector that requires attention – the inclusion of vegetatively propagated crops into the formal certification system.
He explained that crops such as cassava, potatoes, banana, and plantain, which rely on vegetative parts for reproduction, need to be developed within the certification process.
He said, “We have a challenge in Nigeria that we really need to solve, which has to do with getting vegetatively propagated crops into the formal certification system.
“So, there is a need to develop these crops like cassava, potatoes, banana, plantain, which we use their vegetative parts for the next generation and create the process of decentralising the quality assurance for minimum standard. And that is why we are conducting this training for field inspectors or third-party certification officers to help in the certification process and bring it closer to the farmers.”
