Prof. Kabiru Bala, Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has urged plant breeders to develop new improved seeds varieties that will be resilient to pests and diseases.
Bala, who made the appeal during the 2023 Annual National Agricultural Extension Review and Planning Meeting on Tuesday in Zaraia, said such seed varieties would help in combating food insecurity.
The meeting, organised by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), had the theme “State of Emergency on Food Security in Nigeria: Unlocking the tools for implementation.’’
The vice-chancellor, who was represented by Prof. Raymond Bako, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics, said creation of new crop varieties along side efficient irrigation systems and advanced farm management were crucial in increasing agricultural yield.
He added that other tools for unlocking the implementation of the state of emergency on food Security included the resilient strategies against climate change.
The vice-chancellor, therefore, advocated for increased investment in simple labour saving machines towards a strategic and forward thinking approach to enhance productivity and efficiency.
He lamented over the decline in food production coupled with surge in food prices in Nigeria which he described as potential threats to the nation’s peace and prosperity.
Earlier Prof. Emmanuel Ikanni, Executive Director of NAERLS, said the meeting was to review the research, findings and innovations that were done in 2023.
Ikanni said the research, findings and innovations would be profiled with a view to cascade it down to the end users who were the farmers through the State Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs).
He said the theme was in tandem with efforts to strengthen the modalities of implementing the state of emergency on food Security in Nigeria.
According to him, the meeting will x-ray the reasons hindering optimum agricultural performance in the country as well as offer better options of addressing the identified challenges.
He regretted that 80 per cent of Nigerian farmers were using cutlass and hoes in food production as the meeting would also offer better ways of de-populating cutlass from farms.
Ikanni advised the government to leverage on the low saving devices produced at the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM) and mass produce them to bolster agricultural mechanization.
The executive director said the national survey by NAERLS released in October indicated that 85 per cent of farmers were using grains instead of improved seeds on their fields.
He said the National Seeds Council had registered 436 seed companies in Nigeria.
Ikanni advised the agricultural extension agents to link farmers with the seed companies for better results.
