‘Nigerian farmers need quality seeds to boost food production’

The West Africa Commercial Manager of the Ecobasic Seed Company Limited, Moses Atewogboye, said Nigerian farmers need to cultivate the habit of planting the right and quality seeds to attain self-sufficiency in food production in the country.

Atewagboye said that was the only way farmers in the country could meet the food demand of the over 200 million population.

The Ecobasic Seed boss spoke to newsmen on the sideline of a two-day workshop for capacity building programme for Seed Companies in the North which was held in Kaduna on Tuesday.

The Ecobasic Seed firm which debuted in 2021 with fanfare in the state, aimed at supplying seed solutions to local seed companies to produce and supply foundation seed of the highest quality and purity to Nigeria and the West African sub-region.

The agro-business firm was established by the Africa Agriculture Technology Fund, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and the Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria.

Atewagboye said the objective of the programme is to re-orient participants who cut across the region towards production efficiency and value-added selling which could lead to increased yields and profits.

“Basically, it’s about bringing the seed companies to speed in terms to want they need to do. Ecobasic Seed will not be in business without the seed companies excelling. If they are not in business, we are not in business,” he said.

Speaking further, the Agro-biz boss also noted that the firm would embark on enlightening Nigerian farmers on how to plant seeds and not grains which would to further boost food production in the country.

He said, “One of the basic things that we need is we should understand that seeds are not grains. A lot of farmers today need to be enlightened. That awareness should be created across.

“Farmers should be made to understand that the more the plant grains, the more the seed industry will suffer and the less the output they will get.

“Unless we cultivate the habit of planting seeds, not grains, the industry will continue to be in a big problem. And we are advocating for hybrid maize to be planted.

“If the population of Nigeria is estimated to be at about 200 million and we are estimating that at 2035 to be more. It’s a big problem.

“The first question is, what will they eat? So, for us to sustain agriculture, and ensure food security in Nigeria, we must cultivate purity of seed even in planting and this is not going to happen overnight.