Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on Dec 27, 2020 15:05:17 GMT 1
Great News: Nigeria Releases 18 New High-Yielding Crop Varieties For farmers
The National Varieties Release Committee (NVRC) has released 18 high-yielding crop varieties to boost Nigeria’s agricultural productivity. The new varieties were approved out of a total of 25 (twenty-five) varieties submitted for consideration by the research institutions in the country.
This great news was released by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Oladosu Awoyemi during the 29th meeting at the national Centre for Genetic resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAP), Ibadan.
The Registrar of NACGRAP, Mr. Sunday Aladele stated that the new varieties were approved out of a total of 25 varieties submitted for consideration by research institutions, universities, and private seed companies.
Nigeria farmers should please avail themselves of this wonderful opportunity presented by this innovation. It is on record and I can authoritatively say that most Nigerian rural farmers are largely oblivious of so many innovations introduced by the government to increase food in the country.
The statement listed the new crop varieties approved as follows:
Two sweet sorghum varieties (SAMSORG 50 SW and SAMSORG 52SW)
Four multi-purpose cassava varieties (UMUCASS 47, UMUCASS48, UMUCASS 49, UMUCASS 50)
One “Poundable” cassava variety (UMUCASS 51)
Two white maize hybrids (SC 667, and SC419)
One yellow maize variety (ILOMAZ – 1) and two pro-vitamin-A maize varieties (SAMIMAZ 59 and SAMMAZ 60).
One medium maturing top-cross maize (SAMMAZ 61)
Two maize hybrids (SAMMAZ 62 and SAMMAZ 63)
Three yam varieties (Dioscorea alata – UMUDa 31 and Dioscorea rotundata – UMUDr 29 and UMUDr 30)
The reason why we of this forum are highly interested in bringing this information to the notice of our farmers is because of the nature of the new varieties as explained through the statement:
-The sorghum varieties were released based on their high brix content and high extract yield. It means that this variety has a high level of dissolved solids.
- The cassava varieties were released based on high quality flour product and high dry matter.
- The maize varieties were released based on high grain yield and excellent husk cover, tolerance to drought, low nitrogen, and high pro-vitamin A content.
- The three new yam varieties were released based on slow rate of oxidation, ability to be eaten in pounded form, high yield, and high dry matter content.
Farmers have to settle down and analyze these fantastic high qualities possessed by these new varieties of different crops. The federal government has been helping farmers by encouraging researchers in finding better ways of engaging in their farming business. But the question we need to find answers to is this, “how have our farmers keyed into the results of these researches”.
For the cotton farmers, the committee has also registered two hybrid cotton varieties to act as refuge for the released Bt Cotton. The two hybrid cotton are (MAHYCO C 567 and MAHYCO C 571) approved for registration only.
The developers of these new crop varieties cut across many research institutions, universities and private research companies both in Nigeria and other countries of the world.
The chairman of the committee, Mr. Awoyemi concluded the statement by explaining to the public that the committee usually holds their meeting once or twice yearly with the sole target of increasing the agricultural productivity of Nigerian farmers through provision of high yielding crop varieties.
It is now the responsibility of the various federal and state ministries of agriculture to get these high yielding crop varieties just released to reach the farmers that need them. Farmer’s agricultural societies should also be encouraged to key into this programme. We can see that there is no reason why Nigeria should be crying about food shortage when we are blessed with these wonderful crop varieties.
The National Varieties Release Committee (NVRC) has released 18 high-yielding crop varieties to boost Nigeria’s agricultural productivity. The new varieties were approved out of a total of 25 (twenty-five) varieties submitted for consideration by the research institutions in the country.
This great news was released by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Oladosu Awoyemi during the 29th meeting at the national Centre for Genetic resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAP), Ibadan.
The Registrar of NACGRAP, Mr. Sunday Aladele stated that the new varieties were approved out of a total of 25 varieties submitted for consideration by research institutions, universities, and private seed companies.
Nigeria farmers should please avail themselves of this wonderful opportunity presented by this innovation. It is on record and I can authoritatively say that most Nigerian rural farmers are largely oblivious of so many innovations introduced by the government to increase food in the country.
The statement listed the new crop varieties approved as follows:
Two sweet sorghum varieties (SAMSORG 50 SW and SAMSORG 52SW)
Four multi-purpose cassava varieties (UMUCASS 47, UMUCASS48, UMUCASS 49, UMUCASS 50)
One “Poundable” cassava variety (UMUCASS 51)
Two white maize hybrids (SC 667, and SC419)
One yellow maize variety (ILOMAZ – 1) and two pro-vitamin-A maize varieties (SAMIMAZ 59 and SAMMAZ 60).
One medium maturing top-cross maize (SAMMAZ 61)
Two maize hybrids (SAMMAZ 62 and SAMMAZ 63)
Three yam varieties (Dioscorea alata – UMUDa 31 and Dioscorea rotundata – UMUDr 29 and UMUDr 30)
The reason why we of this forum are highly interested in bringing this information to the notice of our farmers is because of the nature of the new varieties as explained through the statement:
-The sorghum varieties were released based on their high brix content and high extract yield. It means that this variety has a high level of dissolved solids.
- The cassava varieties were released based on high quality flour product and high dry matter.
- The maize varieties were released based on high grain yield and excellent husk cover, tolerance to drought, low nitrogen, and high pro-vitamin A content.
- The three new yam varieties were released based on slow rate of oxidation, ability to be eaten in pounded form, high yield, and high dry matter content.
Farmers have to settle down and analyze these fantastic high qualities possessed by these new varieties of different crops. The federal government has been helping farmers by encouraging researchers in finding better ways of engaging in their farming business. But the question we need to find answers to is this, “how have our farmers keyed into the results of these researches”.
For the cotton farmers, the committee has also registered two hybrid cotton varieties to act as refuge for the released Bt Cotton. The two hybrid cotton are (MAHYCO C 567 and MAHYCO C 571) approved for registration only.
The developers of these new crop varieties cut across many research institutions, universities and private research companies both in Nigeria and other countries of the world.
The chairman of the committee, Mr. Awoyemi concluded the statement by explaining to the public that the committee usually holds their meeting once or twice yearly with the sole target of increasing the agricultural productivity of Nigerian farmers through provision of high yielding crop varieties.
It is now the responsibility of the various federal and state ministries of agriculture to get these high yielding crop varieties just released to reach the farmers that need them. Farmer’s agricultural societies should also be encouraged to key into this programme. We can see that there is no reason why Nigeria should be crying about food shortage when we are blessed with these wonderful crop varieties.
