TAAT agric project develops wheat seed variety to boost production

The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), an agricultural development programme, has developed improved seed variety to accelerate wheat production in Nigeria.

TAAT developed the seed in partnership with research institutes to enhance farmer access to seed, enhance wheat value chain and promote export.

The Value Chain Specialist, TAAT Clearing House, Dr Oluwatoyin Adetunji said this on the sidelines of a two-day wheat training workshop, on Thursday in Kano.

She said the exercise was designed to identify challenges militating against effective growth of the wheat seed sector in Nigeria and proffer solutions to address them.

She said that TAAT has initiated process towards developing a robust sector to stimulate provision of high quality seed at affordable rate to wheat growers.

“Nigeria imports not less than 95 per cent of wheat into the country, a situation that is draining our foreign exchange.

“In the not too distant future, following the intensification of wheat research programmes, Nigeria will commence the exportation of high quality grain to other countries.

“Wheat is important and the most commonly consumed globally, it is used for the production of bread, flour, pasta, wheat grain, among others.

“Following our commitment, we have through intensive research programmes developed heat-tolerant seed, which can survive in Nigeria,” she said.

 The expert, however, identified lack of fund and inadequate funding as some of the obstacles militating against effective seed development.

She reitrated commitment of the programme to develop improved seed variety to encourage wheat cultivation to achieve self sufficiency in wheat production.