By Agrobroadcast Team
The Director-General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Hon. Fatuhu Muhammed, has underscored the central role of seed technology in tackling Nigeria’s food security challenges, noting that the country’s agricultural output remains far below its true capacity.
Muhammed made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the official launch and stakeholder engagement of the proseV Project, where he highlighted persistent gaps within Nigeria’s seed sector despite recent progress.
According to him, limited access to quality seeds, weak uptake of improved varieties by farmers, and gaps in seed regulation continue to constrain productivity across the agricultural value chain.
“Seed is the foundation of agricultural production and has the power to significantly improve yields and overall performance,” he said, adding that widespread adoption of improved varieties offers benefits not only to farmers but also to agribusinesses and the environment.
He listed the advantages of improved seed varieties to include higher crop yields, better tolerance to climate stress, improved resistance to pests and diseases, enhanced nutritional quality, and the promotion of sustainable farming practices.
Muhammed noted that with the global population steadily increasing, seed technology has become indispensable in ensuring food availability and sustainability.
“For many years, one of the major gaps in agricultural planning and agribusiness development has been the absence of reliable data on the varieties farmers actually cultivate and how those varieties perform after release,” he said.
He explained that traditional methods of assessing varietal adoption such as farmer recall, visual identification, and administrative records often fail to reflect realities on farmers’ fields, where seed recycling, informal seed exchange, mixed varieties, and local naming systems are common.
As a result, he said, seed production planning is often based on uncertainty, processors struggle with inconsistent supply and quality, investors hesitate due to unreliable yield projections, and policy decisions are made without strong evidence.
“Bridging this information gap is critical if agriculture is to serve as a dependable base for agribusiness expansion,” Muhammed stressed.
He described variety adoption as a strategic tool for advancing sustainable agriculture through the effective use of modern seed technologies, with the ultimate goal of boosting yields and strengthening agribusiness outcomes.
The NASC boss further noted that farmer access to high-quality seeds can be enhanced through advances in biotechnology, genetics, and other scientific innovations.
Emphasising the importance of data, he said varietal adoption information goes beyond documentation and plays a strategic role in reducing risk and attracting investment into the sector.
“When agriculture is driven by reliable data, it shifts from being a high-risk venture to a viable and investable agribusiness,” he said.
Muhammed also highlighted NASC’s ongoing efforts in crop varietal tracking, noting that Nigeria has already made significant strides in this area through the Institutionalising Monitoring of Crop Variety Adoption through Genotyping (IMAGE) Project.
Implemented in collaboration with local and international partners, the IMAGE Project applies DNA fingerprinting to accurately identify crop varieties grown by farmers, measure adoption levels, and track how varieties move through the seed system from breeder seed to farmers’ fields.
“This approach introduces accuracy, objectivity, and credibility into varietal assessment, which are essential attributes for modern agribusiness systems,” he said.
He added that the initiative has positioned Nigeria to better monitor post-release performance of key crop varieties and make informed decisions that support productivity, investment, and long-term food security.