Magnus Eze, Enugu

Nigeria’s celebrated feat in yam production, especially its recent venture into export, may suffer a setback as the nation faces nine million seed yam deficiency. Unfortunately, foremost research centre, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike in Ikwuano, Abia State, can only provide about one million seeds at the moment. 

James Zasha, Service Delivery Consultant, Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn of the Department for International Development (PERL-DFID) disclosed this at the maiden agricultural seeds media dialogue organised in Abuja in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC).

Zasha, who said PERL-DFID discovered the yawning seed gap while collaborating with some farmers’ associations including the Nigeria Yam Processors Association (NYPA), emphasised that the country’s hope of attaining food sufficiency would be a mirage without sustainable seeds. “We are facilitating their partnership with the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. They are actually at the point of having an MoU that can make the farmers’ association benefit from the services of the institute.
We went to the institute and had a discussion. In the process, the brief from the yam association was that there’s demand for not less than 9.1 million yam seeds now and they were hoping to get support from Umudike.

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“But the leadership of the institute also highlighted their challenges; took us to where they are producing the seeds, they said they can at best produce one million seeds. Not that they can’t do more; they can do more if properly funded but the current level of funding can only enable them produce one million. That’s only the yam sector; it will be interesting to do analysis of other sectors; the seed shortfall and these are people, who’re keying in to export,” he stated.

He regretted that for more than 30 years, attention in the agricultural sector had been focused on fertilizer to the detriment of seeds and extension services.