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.

President Buhari reappoints Dr. Phillip Olusegun Ojo as Seed Council DG

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President Muhammadu Buhari has re-appointed the Director-General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Dr. Phillip Olusegun Ojo, as a result of the successes of the seed sector in Nigeria under his watch. According to a letter signed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, the re-appointment takes effect from Sunday, May 26, 2019. Dr. Ojo whose areas of special expertise include Seed Certification and Quality Control, Seed Production, Seed Testing, Seed Conditioning, Seed Storage and Capacity Building, has deployed his wealth of experience in transforming the Council into an innovative agency that has recorded tremendous growth and progress. Under his leadership, Nigeria through the Council is benefiting from the regional harmonised seed regulation within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as the country is so far the only one capable of moving seeds to other countries as a result of its advanced seed system, leading to numerous job and wealth creation opportunities along the seed value chain.

Also important is the significant increase in value of investment in the seed industry with Nigeria becoming the hub of seed production in Africa where presences of nationally owned large scale seed production companies that compete well with multinational giants are recorded. Dr. Ojo had said at different forums that there are huge challenges to tackle in the seed industry, including adulteration, smuggling and selling of grains as seeds, leading to poor harvests and low returns on crop cultivation investments. Sales of poor and adulterated seeds to farmers by unscrupulous merchants who defraud farmers and give companies a bad name are at their barest minimum as the Council’s seed inspectorate mechanism are working tireless with stakeholders to arrest fake seed producers and sellers.

He said with the appointment, his team would work with breeders, seed companies, input dealers and farmers to ensure international good practices in the sector, saying without a viable seed industry, food security and sustainability of farm operations would be a complete failure.