The Federal Government has disclosed plans to establish satellite seed testing laboratories in the 36 states of the federation to enhance farmers’ access to quality and certified seeds with a view to increasing agricultural yields.
The Director of Seeds Inspectorate, National Agricultural Seeds Council, Bulus Sule, said the FG, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, was committed to ensuring that Nigerian farmers have access to and plant quality seeds that would give them the assurance of bumper harvests and huge earnings.
Sule spoke in Ado Ekiti on Friday during a sensitisation workshop for stakeholders in the South-West.
He said, “Farmers all over the country have to use certified seeds. When you use certified, quality seeds for planting, your production per hectare will increase by almost 60 per cent. When you add other inputs, you will achieve 100 per cent. This is boosting the yield per hectare. This is what the council has achieved over time.
“Satellite laboratories in the states will bring seed testing close to the farmers so that even those in the hinterland will have access. They will not need to go far to test their seeds, to know that the quality of the seeds they are planting is of high standard, and they will be able to get a bumper harvest. Once agricultural production improves, then automatically, the economy will jack up.”
Sule also noted that the nation’s gross domestic product would improve and, in turn, have a positive effect on the economy.
“We believe that the economy of Nigeria in terms of GDP in agriculture will double or triple in no distant time. In 2012, there were only about 74 seed-producing agencies in Nigeria accredited by the council, but when intervention came with intensive campaigns and others, more than 314 seed companies are now in production.”
