KANO (North-West, Nigeria) — The National Agricultural Seeds Council, NASC has raised red flag against seeds without codex code, saying they are fake seeds.
The Council’s Acting Director General, Dr. Ishaq Khalid made this known while speaking with newsmen on the sideline of a two days meeting with stakeholders to develop the implementation framework for the national seed policy.
Dr. Khalid warned the farmers to be wary of the seeds without codex code in order not to fall victims of fake seeds, adding that the measure (codex code) became imperative to ensure farmers gets certified seeds to ensure yield production as the start of agriculture is good seed.
The Council’s Acting Director General, said the essence of the meeting was to strategize on how to ensure implementation of seed policy in order to achieve a robust National Seed System that enhances private sector participation in the seed industry and at the same time, define roles for the public and private sector.
According to him, “The new 2022 seed policy put in place with the support of the Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity of Feed the Future project introduced new policy statements aimed at achieving a robust National Seed System that enhances private sector participation in the seed industry and at the same time, define roles for the public and private sector.
“These includes, Liberalization of Foundation seed (FS) production and marketing by private seed accredited seed enterprise, all seed Growers including public institutions and NARI centers and private seed companies shall be encouraged to establish a seed unit that shall be responsible for the production and marketing of EGS and such shall be accredited by NASC.
“We have introduced that technology in the case of seeds (seed codex code). So we tell farmers that if you don’t see the codex code, you don’t go near the seeds or buy it because it is fake. So that they will get value for their money. Affixation of Seed Codex label in addition to National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) certification tags to every seed package as a quality authentication tool. The use of digital technologies such as seed trackers and seed codex codes for authentication of seed lots and post market traceability.
“However, NASC has since commenced the implementation of some of these innovations as specified in the 2022 National Seed Policy through the performance of its statutory functions of quality assurance for seed in trade professionally and internationally.
“Permit me to state that NASC has also expanded its operations by employing modern technologies in carrying out its duties with the procurement of modern equipment’s, human and infrastructural capacity development, strengthened cooperation’s with relevant bodies etc.
“NASC is also officially member of international seed bodies like the OECD Seed scheme and the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) ans we are at the verge of accession to UPOV for the plant breeders rights. All these are what the new seed policy are been leveraged upon and we need to maximize our membership for the gains of the industry,” Dr. Khalid said.
On his part, the President, Nigeria AgriBusiness Group, NABG, Kabir Ibrahim, represented by Muhammadu Abubakar, identified seeds as the corner stone of Agriculture saying, quality seeds lead to better yields, increased food security, and enhanced incomes for our farmers.
He stressed the commitment of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) in supporting the implementation of the National Seed Policy, saying “Our role as an advocate for agribusiness in Nigeria places us at the forefront of promoting policies that foster growth, sustainability, and profitability in the sector.”
Earlier, the Country Manager, Harvest Plus, Dr. Yusuf Fu’ad said, the framework will further strengthen the role of private sector and inter-agency collaboration for seamless seed policy implementation in Nigeria.
The multi-stakeholder meeting comprises of high level decision makers, seed producer groups, private seed companies, research institutions, civil society organizations, development partners and the academia.
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