Dr. Muazu Abdulkadir, Pemanent Secretary FMARD pays courtesy visit to NASC HQ, Sheda, FCT

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Dr. Muazu Abdulkadir, Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to NASC Headquarters, Sheda, FCT on Tuesday January 14, 2020 and was accompanied by Mrs. Babangida, Director FDA. He was received by Dr. Phillip Ojo, DG NASC and the management team.

The PS was taken on a tour of the facilities at NASC and to see the innovations springing up at the Council. He commended the Council for the rapid developments and promised that the Ministry will continue to support NASC.

TRAINING ON CASSAVA THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION BY NASC IN COLLABORATION WITH CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES (CRS) HELD IN MAKURDI, BENUE STATE, FROM OCTOBER 28TH – 30TH, 2019

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A training on 3rd Party Certification under the BASICS (Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System) Project was held in Makurdi, Benue State.

Third Party Certification involves the use of trained and licensed private agents to carry out seed field inspection, certification under NASC supervision. The Amended Seed Act 2019 allows NASC to use authorized agents for certification.

The purpose of this is to provide support for the certification manpower and hasten certification process; and the pilot phase is being implemented under the BASICS Project, to ascertain its workability.

The objectives of the training were:
1. To introduce cassava seed system and certification to the Third-Party Agents (TPAs)
2. To equip TPAs with the knowledge they need to carry out cassava certification (cassava seed production & VSE activities, cassava seed protocol, cassava diseases and varieties identification, field certification process, scoring & reporting)
3. To acquaint TPAs with knowledge of Cassava Seed Tracker (CST) and use
4. Planning for the certification activity by the TPAs

The training ended with a field demonstration of the cassava seed field inspection and the use of the Seed Tracker on the field.

2019 SEED FAIR AND FARMERS’ FIELD DAY

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The 2019 Seed Fair & Farmers’ Field Day was held at the NASC Headquarters, Sheda, on Thursday October 17, 2019.

The event was chaired by the Hon. Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Alh. Muhammad Sabo Nanono; where he charged Research Institutes to develop crops that can thrive without excessive use of chemicals so that Nigerian crops would not be rejected in the international market just as beans was rejected in the European Union market.

The DG NASC, Dr. Phillip Olusegun Ojo, in his welcome address said the event is geared toward creating awareness among farmers and the farming communities to showcase the availability of different arrays of highly improved crop varieties that can enhance the productivity and increase national food production.

In attendance were the Board members of NASC, The Hungarian Ambassador, Seed Companies, Secondary school students and other stakeholders.

Review and Validation Meeting of the NASC Strategic and Operational Plan for the Nigeria Seed Industry, held at Chelsea Hotel, Central Business District, Abuja on September 11, 2019

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NASC has presented stakeholders with a 5 year Strategic Plan Document which it wants to use in revitalizing the seed sub-sector in Nigeria.

Seed which is the foundation of agriculture has been a major challenge the Nigeria agricultural sector is facing, as fake and uncertified seeds are visible in the open market.

Dr. Phillip Ojo, DG NASC while addressing stakeholders at the Review and Validation workshop, said the document aims at strengthening the capacity of the Council to discharge its responsibilities in coordinating and regulating the Nigeria Seed industry.

The DG mentioned that the journey started about 5months ago, with the support of AGRA and USAID under the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA). NASC commissioned Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Limited to develop a five-year institutional strategic plan aimed at providing the strategic direction for NASC.

Addressing stakeholders at the workshop, the DG said the review and validation of the document is to ensure that the strategic plan aligns with the Green Alternative, which carries hope and aspiration of Nigeria farmers to take the seed sector to the next level.

One of the participants at the workshop and representative of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dolapo Enejo noted that the strategic plan document would be leveraging on technology and digitization to ensure that smallholder farmers are carried along.

SENSITIZATION AND TRAINING WORKSHOP ON OPERATIONS AND USES OF THE NATIONAL SEED TRACKER HELD AT IITA IBADAN, FROM JUNE 24-25, 2019

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The mandate of NASC, to regulate the production, marketing, trade and use of seeds in Nigeria is being achieved through the upgrade of seed certification and quality control from the conventional analogue method to digital certification; with a new innovation known as the National Seed Tracker (NST) recently launched at the SeedConnect 2019. This will ensure transparency, traceability and synergy among all stakeholders in the seed industry.

This app is an upgrade of the Cassava Seed Tacker (CST) and there is an urgent need to popularize the app for use by Seed Certification Officers of the Council and seed companies.

These necessitated an awareness program initiated in collaboration with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and this drew out participants from the South West, South East and South South regions.

The workshop was declared opened by the DG NASC, Dr. Phillip Olusegun Ojo ably represented by the Director, Seed Certification and Quality Control, Dr. Khalid Ishiak who delivered the welcome address on behalf of the DG. In his opening address, the DG thanked IITA and the BASICS project for their support in the development of the CST which provided the platform for development of the National Seed Tracker.

He stressed the importance of quality seed in the development of the nations agriculture while also stating the unrelenting efforts of the Council in the battle to rid the markets of unscrupulous and adulterated seed.

NASC wins NIRSAL Award

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In recognition of the Council’s contribution to agriculture in Nigeria, NASC won an award at the Agricultural Value Chain (AVC) Award Night organized by The Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) on May 23, 2019, held at Statement Hotel, Abuja.

The award won was under the category Champion of Smallholder Agriculture – Research Institution. The award was received by two (2) staff of the Council on behalf of the Director General.