The Federal Government has disclosed that it is expecting no
less than 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat from war-torn Ukraine.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad
Mahmood Abubakar made the disclosure on Wednesday, after the Federal Executive
Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Beyond the wheat import, Nigeria is also expecting from
Russia, an unspecified quantity of potassium, which is a by-product for
production of fertilisers.
While the wheat from Ukraine is currently sea-borne, talks
between Russia and the Nigerian government on the importation of potassium are
still ongoing, the minister revealed while briefing State House correspondents.
According to Abubakar, the ship carrying the wheat is
expected to berth in Port Harcourt from where it would be distributed across
Nigeria and to neighbouring African countries. He explained that Nigeria may
become the hub for accessing exported wheat from Ukraine because of the
strained relationship between the country and Russia.
Asked why Nigeria is patronising the two warring countries,
Mohammad maintained that Nigeria has a neutral policy and therefore can do
business with any country it deems necessary.
Abubakar further revealed that FEC deliberated on a memo on
National Revised Seed Policy, a move aimed at boosting agricultural
productivity in the country.
According to him, there are plans to inject Genetically
Modified Organism (GMO) seeds into the national food chain to produce enough
food to meet the teeming population growth.
“The Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
presented a memo today on our revised 2022 National Agricultural Seed Policy.
“Before now, we have been operating on the 2010 policy,
which was revised in 2015. We just also revised that again to 2022,” he
announced.
Justifying the revision, Abubakar said: “For seeds, what you
plant is what you reap. With the current continuous development in technology,
seeds are always being upgraded, standardised with several vitamins. There’s
also the issue of genetically modified organisms or seeds, if you will. So,
this revision seeks to conform with global best practice in yield.
“Our farmers must have access to best quality seeds that
have been fortified, seeds that can produce the yield that will be worth their
while, seeds that can produce again [and] produce that can compete in the world
market. This is the basis for this particular policy.”
The implementing agency is the National Agricultural Seed
Council of Nigeria, he confirmed.
“The same agency works with the department within the
Ministry [and] also works with other agencies and MDAs that are also involved
in some ways with agriculture [as well as] civil society organisations and
international agencies,” he said.
The minister added: “Nigeria, every year, holds a summit
that we call Seed Connect. This is an international summit that discusses and
focuses on developments in seeds from around the globe.”
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