ECOBasic Seed Limited, a Kaduna based seed organization has called on Nigerian farmers to adopt the use of hybrid varieties of seed and reduce their concentration on open pollinated varieties (OPV), to improve their productivity.
The Managing Director of ECOBasic Seed, Brighton Karume, made this call at a press briefing in Kaduna that the hybrid varieties will help farmer to produce more from the same old piece of land and enable Nigeria to meet its annual maize deficit which currently stands at eight million metric tons.
ECOBasic Seed is a company focuses on providing and supplying foundation seed of the highest quality and purity to seed companies in Nigeria and West Africa countries.
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Karume noted that though Nigeria grows the largest maize hectarage on the continent but the country is not leading in maize production because of its inability to utilize the opportunities provided by the introduction of hybrid varieties.
The Managing Director disclosed that the company have prolific germination of about 60 different demo sites across Kaduna, Niger and Kano state with about 10 different varieties of hybrid maize including Sammaz 62, Sammaz 63 and Sammaz 68 of drought tolerant and high yield.
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“Technology now plays a very crucial role in agricultural productivity and hybrid technology brings about improved varieties which are helping farmers in other countries in their quest for food and nutritional security, Nigeria cannot afford to miss out.” Karume said
Vice Chairman of the company, Prof. Johnson Onyibe added that it is imperative that ECOBasic succeed so that Nigeria’s agricultural sector will continue to grow. He stated this while taken journalists on an inspection tour of the ECOBasic Seed demonstration farm near Kwana Farakwai along Zaria Road; where varieties of hybrid seeds were being produced.
