Nationally, the production capacity of the seeds companies in Nigeria relative to the country’s need is limited, findings show. This leaves room for new entrants to play in an industry beset by a potential N525.04 billion gap. Seeds can be major sources of food, industrial raw materials, object of scientific inquiry, agricultural input, commodities and instrument of technology transfer.
With the total national seed requirements for eight main crops in the country hovering around 388,690.64 metric tons in 2015 and the available seeds only measuring 126,173 metric tons, imports have continued to thrive on that gap
However, experts who spoke to BusinessDay during the retreat of the National Agricultural Seed Council in Ibadan believe entrepreneurs with passion for agriculture have a good market to explore.
Robert Asiedu, West-Africa director at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
We don’t have strong companies that are producing these seeds in large enough quantities. So it is again an area to be developed.
For instance, if you are in Oyo north, it is a good area for producing yam for a lot of farmers. An entrepreneur thinking of seed yams can get loan access of $20,000 and link up with relevant agencies including IITA for the extension system, how to get the stocks of planting materials and get the training on how to multiply further. You get access to healthy seed stocks or the varieties that are in demand and you grow from there. In the first year, you are not thinking of covering a large area but you are building on it. You will then get known in the community as the source of good materials. If people buy the seed yam from you and they have been invaded by pests, they won’t come back. But if they get from you, good quality seeds and it grows very well and they keep coming back. You will expand from there.
Also you need to be aware that for instance, you can have cassava varieties that on a hectare basis, you can get 30 tons. Of course, if they have one that is giving them 10 tonnes. If you use a variety that gives you 10 tonnes per hectare, what it means is that you are using a lot of lands.
Developing a private seed business would serve as the sources of the new improved seed materials for the farmers who want to grow them.
The government really as in many other countries is to ensure that the regulatory system works is really not the government’s role to actually be selling seeds. The regulations are and the new seed act that has come will strengthen it further. There is no fault with that. It is the implementation as always.
Adesola Ajayi, professor of Seed Science and board member of National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC)
I’ve been visiting California in the last few years and every time I go, the question I ask is why they are converting agricultural fields into buildings and the issue is that the United States felt that they have overproduced food and therefore can afford to also convert space.
Globally, the seed trend has witnessed mergers and acquisition leading to consolidation of the market. Africa and South America have the lowest growth rates and on account of rising population across the globe, demand for food production is driving an increase, resulting in the growth of the global seeds market.
Hence, there is a huge market for seed for farmers and resultant grains for agro-industrial concerns with high job-creation potential.
There are possibilities of limited national production, financial, technical capacities benefitting from international technology and capital inflow through mergers and partnerships.
However, attracting international players and assessing international market requires assurances through policy measures and regulatory frameworks.
Commodification and commercialization of agricultural seeds gave birth to, and continues to drive, the seed industry globally.
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