Kano produces 60 percent of Nigerian seed

The Director General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) Dr. Phillip O. Ojo has disclosed that Kano State produces 60 per cent of the total seeds produced in the country.

He made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy call on the state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, stressing that seeds production should be taken with all seriousness.

“Kano produces 60 per cent of the seeds in Nigeria. Whereas, Nigeria produces 65 per cent of seeds used in West African sub-region. And most of these seeds are produced in Kano,” he said.

According to him, he was in Kano purposely to establish Seeds Coordination Committee, lamenting that states like Yobe and Adamawa, that were not near Kano in seeds production had such committees inaugurated.

He assured the governor that the seeds regulatory council would do the needful to make sure that farmers get quality seeds, noting that, Kano has the highest number of seeds companies in the federation.

In his remarks, Ganduje commended the council for doing their best to see to the sustained development in seeds industry, expressing that, “You brought good omen to the government, people and farmers in the state.”

While urging the council to hasten the establishment of Coordination Committee, Ganduje disclosed that Kano has the highest number of Extension Workers in the country.

The governor argued that with the situation of oil, agriculture should now be the backbone of the nation’s economy, stressing that fertiliser is no more an issue, since the state now produces it in abundance.