The Director-General, National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Dr Philip Olusegun Ojo, has noted that they had come to the realisation that there cannot be food security in any country without seed security.
Meanwhile, he said for this to be achieved; as every country want to be food self-sufficient because it needs to feed its citizen, there had to be proper planning.
He stated this at a training of trainers workshop on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in Kaduna on Monday, February 7, 2022.
According to him, the greatest constraint of proper Planning is a dearth of proper and adequate data, buttressing that, data challenges span every sector of the economy, and there is a realisation that the use of ICT is a very good way to address the lingering issues of poor data sourcing, storage and retrieval.
To this effect, he explained the council is poised to explore the use of ICT, emphasising the place of effective seed certification using modern tools.
“Seed certification is very crucial to ensuring that quality assurance is maintained. The council is very particular about both the field standards and the lab standards and we are not resting on our oars till we ensure our dear farmers get value for their money by ensuring that high quality, disease-free and biosecure seeds are available to the smallest farmer no matter the location in Nigeria.
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“Apart from making your schedule easier, the electronic certification process will provide a reliable system with enhanced traceability and transparency. So far, many technological innovations to make your work easier. One of
them is the SeedTracker put in place for seed inspection, company registration; and also, the SeedCodex for electronic authentication and currently the standard NASC portal which is evolving.”
The DG said as part of the new paradigm, NASC has created a full-fledged ICT unit under the DG office, saddled with the responsibility of handling the back end of all ICT infrastructure and platforms of the council.
He explained this will further entrench the domestication of ideals and reduce the over-dependency on third party ICT vendors.
“All this is gravitating the new NASC in line with international best practices. You may wish to know that some of the IT innovations that NASC piloted are being used today by other sister African Countries like Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana.
“From the foregoing. I believe it will be a thing of pride to be selected among the whole officers in the country to be part of this training.
“I want you to note that your drive for ICT and performance was a major criterion for your selection as you fit into the frame of officers that can cascade training effectively to the others,” he said.
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There can’t be food security without seed security ― NASC DG
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There can’t be food security without seed security ― NASC DG
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