Informal seed system threatens Nigeria’s Agric productivity

Good seeds remain a core input for the much desired boost in the Nigerian agricultural sector.

Therefore, timely availability of good seeds of improved varieties to farmers should be a priority in farming system because the quality of seeds determines the crop response to other inputs.

Formal seed system is characterized by organized public and private sector participating in the seed industry

According to Chief Audu Ogbeh, the minister of agriculture and rural development, “Nigeria needs a seed industry revolution ” he stated this in his address at the workshop on ‘Developing a Rapid Action Plan for Quality Seed Production and Presentation of the Alliance for a Seed Industry in West Africa held in Abuja.

He said the 2015 annual seed production was about 122,000 metric tonnes valued at N43bn ($216m), which translates into a supply-demand gap of about 231,000 MT valued at N81bn ($409m).

Speaking on the current  seed demands for Nigeria, Ogbeh said, “It is worth noting that the estimated annual seed demand in Nigeria for 2016 is about 350,000 metric tonnes for rice, maize and sorghum with an approximate seed industry value of  N112 billion ($564 million).

The minister said the current gap was being filled through massive use of low quality seeds such as farmers’ saved seeds and those supplied by unscrupulous seed merchants

FAO data explains that rice, wheat, maize and potatoes provide more than 60 percent of the world’s food energy intake and Small-scale farmers obtain more than 90 per cent of these seeds from informal systems.

Studies show that Small scale farmers prefer local seeds to those from agro-dealer outlets, which are situated far from them.  Some other farmers lack knowledge on the advantages of improved seeds as opposed to local seeds which have varieties of poor quality.

If we must sustainably feed our teeming population of 170 million people, and also serve as the food basket for the West and Central Africa sub-regions, in view of their increasing reliance on us for some of their food, then we must look into better structures for distribution of seeds.

MARTINS NOEL