The National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), says it will partner with the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) and Harvest Plus to develop a framework for the National Seed Policy.
The Acting Director of the Council, Dr Isaq Khalid stated this at a two-day national seed policy implementation framework development workshop on Wednesday in Kano.
He said that it was imperative to prioritise policies that drive the system given the new technologies in agriculture.
Khalid said the industry was still evolving and being a critical input in enhancing agricultural productivity in Nigeria.
“The new 2022 seed policy was put in place to support Nigeria’s aribusiness investment activity to feed the future project.
“The policy statement is aimed at achieving a robust National Seed System that enhances private sector participation in seed industry, and also define roles for public and private sector.
“This includes liberalisation of Foundation Seed (FS) production and marketing by private seed accredited enterprise,” he said.
According to Khalid, the affixation of codex labels in addition to the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) certification tag to every package is a quality authentication tool.
He said the council has expanded its operations by deploying modern technologies, procurement of modern equipment, human and infrastructural capacity development as well as strengthened cooperations with relevant bodies.
The council, he said, encouraged youths and women’s participation in the seed value chain from breeding to marketing.
Also speaking, the President of the NABG, Mr Kabir Ibrahim, said quality seeds lead to better yields, and enhance food security and income for farmers.
Ibrahim, who was represented by Muhammadu Abubakar, said the NABG was fully committed to supporting implementation of the policy to foster growth and sustainability.
“We believe in the transformative power of good policies and will continue to champion and support initiatives that promise to make a lasting positive impact on our agriculture and agribusiness sector,” he said.
On his part, the Country Manager of Harvest Plus, Dr Yusuf Fua’d said the framework would strengthen the role of the private sector and inter-agency collaboration for seamless seed policy implementation in the country.
NAN
