In an attempt to combat the nation’s growing food insecurity and poverty, the federal government said that it plans to produce 31 million metric tonnes (MT) of grains by 2024.
Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, clarified that Nigeria needs 312,555.69MT of seed for its five main crops—rice, maize, wheat, soybeans, and sorghum—for around 31 million MT of grains to be produced in the upcoming year.
At the sixth 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,” the minister made this statement.
“The ministry has outlined a series of critical pathways that are streamlined into short-, intermediate-, and long-term actions to solve the challenges related to food security,” the speaker stated.
He stated that the certification of planting supplies accessible for dry season farming—which was recently flagged off in Jigawa state—is the ministry’s top concern right now.
According to him, the goal was to cultivate 70,000 hectares of wheat production under a facility supported by the National Agricultural Growth Scheme, AgroPocket Scheme, and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). He also mentioned that the farmers are receiving subsidized quality seeds for rice, maize, and soybeans in addition to other inputs.
He went on to say that the current administration’s short-term involvement includes establishing a gene bank for pasture seed production, fodder, and foliage estates in an effort to progressively put an end to conflicts between farmers and herders.
