Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has ranked Nigeria as one of the world’s largest yam producers with about 60% of the global production of the product.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Umar Bello, disclosed this in Abuja at the National Awareness Workshop on Yam, organised by the Advocacy and Resource Mobilization Team (ARMT) of Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA), an initiative of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Dr Bello, who was represented by the Director of Agriculture, Frank Kudla, noted that although Nigeria produces about 64% of yam globally, it rates quite low among yam exporting countries owing to the lack of quality seeds of improved varieties and efficient seed production.
In a statement signed by the Director of Information, Theodore Ogashiechi, Bello said that the IITA under its YIIFSWA programme saw the need to develop high ratio multiplication technologies, a seed multiplication system that is sustainable and capable of producing high quality yam seeds at an affordable price to farmers with high yielding potential.
According to him, the current practice in yam seed production is at a ratio of 1:1 within 12 months, but that the new technology will produce a 1:3 ratio within six months.
Meanwhile, Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture, Idu Mathew, who was represented by the Director, Technical Resources, Mr Onuze Benjamin, added that “every country that exports its raw commodity, exports its labour and every other thing that is good to the country.”
The Focal Person of the ARMT and YIIFWA Nigeria Team, Dr Pepetua Iyere-Usiahon, explained that a key reason for the YIIFWA programme is the necessity for food security.