Agriculture
NACGRAB: midwifing a food secured Nigeria through biotechnology
There is an area in the city of Ibadan, South-West Nigeria called Moor Plantation, named after a Colonial British High Commissioner, Sir Ralph Moor.
This location which is one of the oldest agricultural stations in Nigeria, could be referred to as the hub of agricultural institutions, research outfits, as well as agriculture education and training, in the ancient city.
In order to grow cotton to feed the British Textile Mills in 1905, the British Cotton Growers Association acquired 10.
35 square kilometres of land at the site known today as Moor Plantation.Five years later, in 1910, Moor Plantation had become the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture in Southern Nigeria.
It is also home to the first college of agriculture in the country and the whole of West Africa, the Federal College of Agriculture, formerly School of Agriculture, established in 1921.
Nestled comfortably in a serene section of Moor Plantation is the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB).
NACGRAB was established in 1987 by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.
Its mandate is to collect and conserve valuable genetic resources for food and agriculture and ensure that they are used sustainably.
NACGRAB is host to the National Varieties Release Committee (NVRC), as the agency serves as the committee’s secretariat.
The NVRC is responsible for scrutiny, registration, approval, and release of crop and animal varieties submitted to it by agricultural scientists, plant and animal breeders, seed companies, and research institutes among others.
The work of the committee is facilitated by NACGRAB with the required manpower and technology on and off the field to ensure its objectives and goal are actualized.
Dr Sunday Aladele, the Registrar of NVRC is also the Director of NACGRAB, at present.
In the last three years (December 2019 to January 2022) the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology released a total of 76 high yield crop varieties to Nigerian farmers through the NACGRAB based committee.
This regular release of high yield crop varieties, is to boost agriculture, make food available at cheaper rates, ensure bumper harvest at short intervals, and attain the desirable level of food security for the Nigerian populace.
A breakdown shows that 11 new crop varieties were released in December 2019, another batch of 18 varieties in December 2020, while 47 varieties were just released in January 2022.
Apart from this number, a cornucopia of other high yield crop varieties have been released during 27 meetings of the committee prior to December 2019.
At the 28th meeting of NVRC in 2019, chairman of the committee, Chief Oladosu Awoyemi said that the 11 varieties mentioned above, were approved for release out of a total of 20 crop varieties initially submitted to the Technical Sub – Committee on Crops for consideration.
Further details were given by the chairman of the crops sub – committee, Prof. Olusoji Olufajo who listed the new hybrid crops varieties as six maize, two castor, two yam, and one cowpea varieties.
Among the criteria used for the release of some of the varieties were, extra earliness and high grain yield, high protein content, high pro-vitamin A content, high yield, and tolerance to multiple stress.
Others were based on high seed yield and large endosperm, high yield, high oil content, early maturity and good oil physicochemical properties, slow rate of oxidation, good taste and high dry matter.
Good processing quality and good taste, resistance to legumes pod borer and early maturity were also taken into consideration before approval and release of some of the 11 varieties.
At the 2020 meeting, which was the 29th in the series, 18 new varieties were approved out of a total of 25 varieties submitted for consideration by research institutions, universities and private seed companies.
The varieties approved for release were two sweet sorghum varieties and four multipurpose cassava varieties.
They also included, one “poundable” cassava variety, two white maize hybrids, one yellow maize variety, and two pro- vitamin A maize varieties.
Others were, one medium maturing top – cross maize variety, two maize hybrids, and three yam varieties.
Apart from the 18 released varieties, two hybrid cotton were only registered by the Committee to serve as refuge for the released Biotechnology Cotton.
The 30th meeting of NVRC in January 2022 was a memorable event as a deluge was witnessed in the number of crops approved for release.
At the occasion, one of the highest if not the highest number of varieties in the history of the NVRC, 47 varieties, were approved for release at a sitting.
The 47 varieties were from a total of 49 varieties earlier submitted to the committee.
The released crop varieties included two rice hybrids, two high protein rich Oat varieties, three Durum wheat varieties, three pro-Vitamin A hybrid cassava, and 19 maize varieties.
It is noteworthy that when plant breeders, seed companies, and scientists come to NACGRAB, they are expected to always submit what is known as the Distinct Uniformity Stability (DUS) requirements of their crop varieties with the crops.
This is being done in order to ensure extra quality of the varieties and for them to meet international standards.
This means that all crop varieties must meet the DUS requirements of being distinct, uniform and stable for acceptance not only in Nigeria but in the West African sub-region.
Developers of crop and animal varieties bringing their samples for approval and release at NACGRAB come from within and outside Nigeria.
They include, the Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Abuja, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan.
Other developers are, the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, the University of Ilorin, the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training Ibadan; and Seed Co. Nigeria Ltd.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kenya, Bayer Crop Science , Petit, South Africa, and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, Kenya are also among developers of many varieties released so far.
The diverse origin of these plant breeders, scientists, seed companies and researchers is a testimony to the quality and global standard of NACGRAB’s outputs.
The committee is also responsible for the approval and release of animals, fish, and livestock of enhanced breeds.
But, in this area, not much success has been recorded as breeders are not forthcoming with samples and the NVRC can not approve and release what is not presented before it.
However, the committee has been persistent in its call on stakeholders to submit samples of animals, livestock and fishes of improved quality to it for approval and release.
Looking at its consistent activities so far, the NVRC seems to be the foremost committee under the umbrella of NACGRAB that is strategically midwifing the food security goal of the Federal Government for the masses.
This assertion is backed by the fact that high yield crop and animal varieties derived through biotechnology have been identified by many experts, as solutions to global hunger and malnutrition.
From the foregoing, it is apparent that for over 30 years, NACGRAB have really been working tirelessly to boost Nigeria’s agricultural productivity.
Some observers are also of the view that what NACGRAB’s effort, which is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s 9-point agenda, needs; is sustainability. (NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Wife of the Anambra State Governor, Dr Nonye Soludo, on Saturday launched the organic garden competition in secondary schools in Anambra to encourage children to learn more about food and farming.
Soludo, while addressing Healthy Living Teacher Ambassadors in Awka, said the organic garden competition would help teach children the importance of food and farming and its impact on their lives.
She described organic farming as a process that involved the use of natural food sources and nutrients for farming practices without fertiliser or other chemicals.
“This competition is part of the Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo Campaign to achieve a culture of health consciousness, drive organic agriculture with emphasis on food safety and sustainable living.
“It will help our students learn valuable lessons about where their food comes from, the benefits of eating fresh and healthy foods, and how to care for the environment.
“Vegetable seeds will be distributed to schools and at the end of every term, schools with the three best gardens will be rewarded.
“Our children at a tender age will start to appreciate agriculture as an essential way of life and the need to be part of building solutions that foster healthy foods in the society,” she said.
Also speaking, Dr Afam Obidike, the state’s Commissioner for Health, said the schools garden competition would increase student’s knowledge about the nutritional value of foods.
In her remarks, Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, Chairperson, Post Primary Schools Service Commission, said schools in the state would offer Health Living lecture every Wednesday after break to help students learn how to be healthy and grow into healthy adults.
Reports says that the programme featured distribution of okro, carrot, pepper, tomatoes, watermelon and cucumber seeds to the school teachers to begin the process of their school gardens.(NAN)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has received 2.15 million bags of assorted fertilisers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Reports says that the assorted fertilisers would be distributed to farmers to curb food inflation in the country as well as boost food production and food security.
Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, who spoke at the event on Wednesday in Abuja, expressed gratitude to the President Bola Tinubu and CBN for the gesture.
Kyari assured the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, that the inputs would be judiciously used and delivered to the intended farmers.
“Thank you very much; this is more than goodies; 2.
15 million bags of assorted fertilisers; we want to express our profound appreciation on behalf of the Nigerian farmers and President Tinubu.“Also, we appreciate you, our dear brother, the CBN governor and your team for giving us this wonderful gift.
“I want to assure you that it will be judiciously used and it will be delivered to the last man and intended farmers where they can reap the benefits of this huge gesture.
“They (farmers) can in turn cultivate and produce more that would stem the galloping food inflation that is affecting our country.’’
He said that challenges such as food prices, food cultivation, flooding and climate change among others had impacted on agricultural production in the country, adding that insecurity was on decline.
“l am happy to say that those things I mentioned are on the decline; insecurity is on the decline and we are mitigating against climate change.
“We are sensitising farmers to go into dry season agriculture.’’
Kyari said that there was need to need to boost and repair irrigation infrastructure so as to have all year round farming.
“Which (irrigation) is even more secured than that of the wet season farming,” he said.
Earlier, Cardoso expressed enthusiasm for the visit and presentation which was to address the issue of escalating cost of food in the country.
According to him, food prices are crucial components of inflation.
He said that the CBN aimed to enhance its partnership with the ministry to improve food production.
“This is precisely why we convene today to strengthen our collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to mitigate the surge in food prices.
“The gesture is in alignment with our strategic shift towards focusing on our fundamental mandate.
“The CBN has veered away from direct quasi-fiscal interventions and transitioned towards leveraging conventional monetary policy tools for executing monetary policies effectively.
“In this light, we aim to extend our support and foster closer ties with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) with the mandate and expertise to undertake these critical initiatives.
“Consequently, we aim to enhance our partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, bolstering your endeavours to enhance food productivity and security, ultimately curbing food inflation and fortifying our pursuit of price stability.
“In pursuit of these shared goals, we are delighted to announce the allocation of 2.15 million bags of fertilisers valued at over N100 billion which we humbly hand over to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
“This contribution from CBN aims to amplify food production capabilities and foster price stabilisation within the agricultural sector,” he said.(NAN)
The National Centre For Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), says Nigeria will soon witness sufficiency and price reduction in food commodities.
The NACGRAB Acting Director, Dr Anthony Okere, stated this at the end of a 2023 Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting on Seed For Resilience (SFR) organised by NACGRAB in collaboration with Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) in Ibadan.
He said SFR came into existence in 2021 to improve the efficiency of NACGRAB genebank and enhance the use of conserved genepool by farmers and other users of genetic resources in Nigeria.
Okere said the project had exposed the diversity of sorghum, cowpea and other crops to farmers and other users in Nigeria in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and boost farmers’ productivity and ensure food and nutrition security in Nigeria.
He said that the project was successful, based on feedbacks from farmers and other users that the good quality seeds planted this season yielded well in multiples, compared to year 2022.
“Farmers now feeling free to come to NACGRAB genebank to demand more diversity of materials that could help them to get higher production which in turn would lead to food sufficiency and price reduction in Nigeria soon.
“There are availability of quality seeds in NACGRAB genebank that farmers can plant and generate good yield due to success of this project.
” Various farmers can now dwell in more crops instead of one or two crops; this project has made it possible for farmers to plant diversity of quality seeds and generate good yields which in turn will lead to food and nutrition security in Nigeria,” Okere said.
Dr Olabisi Alamu, the Activity Team Leader, User engagement of the project, said that NACGRAB and other stakeholders had been engaging with farmers about the project in the past three years.
Alamu said that farmers in Oyo, Niger and Kano states had been exposed to diversity of seeds of cowpea, sorghum accessions and other seeds conserved in the genebank.
He said that most farmers now had access to the seeds and were now using them to enhance production, increase their yields and income generation.
” In all the three states, we have 49 cluster groups; the Seed for Resilience (SFR) project has impacted over 1,000 farmers over the past three years.
“Some of them have been adopting it as a result of good quality, traits, early maturity varieties, high yields among others,” Alamu said.
The team leader said that some of the farmers had also multiplied the seeds they selected in year 2023 and as well disseminated it to other farmers, to enhance the use of the materials in the genebank.
The Oyo State Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr Abass Adewumi, said the project had exposed them to a lot of things they needed to know and apply on their farms for crops to germinate well.
Adewumi said that the research project had also exposed them to know suitable seeds for planting in certain environment which could give better yields, to maximise profit and shun the old ways of planting seeds. (NAN)
Imo Governor Appoints 16 Special Advisers
ShareFrom Marcel Duru & Charity Wins, OwerriImo State Governor, Sen Hope Uzodimma has approved the appointment of 12 Special Advisers...
CNPP Laments over Rising Food Inflation
ShareFrom Joseph Amedu, LokojaThe Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, (CNPP) has lamented the rising state of food inflation in Kogi...
CBN Reduces Banks’ Lending Rate to 50 Percent
ShareBy Tony Obiechina, Abuja Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday announced a review of the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) for banks...
EFCC, Police, Guards in Battle of Supremacy over Yahaya Bello
ShareBy David Torough, Abuja Gunshots rented the air as officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday invaded...
Ayu Withdraws Suit against Removal as PDP Chairman
ShareThe National Executive Council (NEC) meetng, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has passed a...
Benue killings: Benue reps frown on incessant attacks on communities, killings of his constituents
Share From Attah Ede, Makurdi The member House of Representatives representing Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency, Arc. Asema Achado, Wednesday,...
Benue killings: Gov Alia Condemns Attack on Communities, Charge Security Agents to Rescue Those in Captive
ShareFrom Attah Ede Makurdi Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, on Wednesday, condemned in strong terms, the recent...
May Day: NLC Seeks Partnership with Anambra Sports Commission
ShareThe Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), says it is planning to hold some sporting events as part of activities marking this...
Illegal Mining: NSCDC Arrests 2 Suspects in Anambra
ShareThe Anambra Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has arrested two suspects for allegedly engaging in...
Nigeria not Ripe for Diaspora Voting – NBA Official
Share Mr Auta Nyada, the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Legal Education Committee, says Nigeria is not ripe...