The Federal Government (FG) has placed an order for the import of 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Ukraine.
Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development made the disclosure on Wednesday, after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The country is also expecting an unspecified quantity of potassium from Russia, which is a bye product for production of fertiliser in Nigeria.
The wheat from Ukraine is currently sea borne, and talks between Russia and the Nigerian government on the importation of potassium is still ongoing, according to the Minister.
Mohammad noted that the ship carrying the wheat is expected to berth in Port harcourt from where it would be distributed across Nigeria and neigbouring African countries.
He stressed that Nigeria may become a hub for accessing wheat, especially with the strained relationship between Ukraine and Russia.
While answering questions as to the reason the country is patronising the two war torn countries, Mohammad stated that Nigeria has a neutral policy, hence can do business with any country it deems necessary.
FEC also deliberated on a memo on national revised seed policy, a move he said was aimed at boosting agricultural productivity in the country.
The Minister noted that there were plans to inject Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seeds into the national food chain to produce enough food to meet the teaming population growth.
“The Federal Minister of Agriculture, 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. And we just also revised that again to 2022.
Mohammad added, “For seeds, what you plant is what you reap. With the current continuous development in technology, seeds are always being upgraded to standardise four to five with several vitamins. There’s also the issue of genetically modified organisms or seeds, if you will.
“So, this revision seeks to confirm 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.
According to Mohammad, the implementing agency is the National Agricultural Seed Council of Nigeria, the same agency that works with the department within the Ministry, also works with other agencies and MDAs that are also involved in some ways with agriculture, working with civil society organisations, international agencies.
“Nigeria every year holds a summit that we call Seed Connect. This is an international summit that discusses and focuses on improving development in seeds from around the globe. So seeds are really very important, very critical, as you all know, the agric sector forms a great part of the GDP of this country and all that we focus on is smallholder farmers,” he stated.
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