The National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI) Badeggi has released hybrid varieties of rice, acha, and soybean, for seed multiplication and cultivation in this new planting season to improve yields and the livelihoods of farmers.
The Executive Director of NCRI, Dr Aliyu Umar, made this known through a document released by the institute about the three crops, while farmers expressed their readiness to adopt the new crop varieties, with the hope of harvesting a bumper crop this season, after some seasons of low yield and pest attack.
NCRI Badeggi is one of the 15 commodity research institutes under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to conduct cost effective agricultural research, generate and disseminate improved technologies.
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The mandated crops of the institute include rice, soybean, Beneseed, Acha, Castor Seed, and stevia. The Institute has the mandate to conduct research into genetic improvement of these crops, and all aspects of the production of these mandated crops include mechanisation and their utilisation.
Farmers have been clamouring for the release of hybrid varieties as a result of the higher yield potential required to meet the fast teeming population across the country, which the low yield of inbred varieties doesn’t offer for sustainable food security.
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The institutes developed two new rice varieties such as Arize TEJ Gold and Arize 6444 Gold, two Acha varieties called NCRIACH 1 and NCRIACH 2, as well as three new soybean varieties including NCRISOY 3 (TGX2024-7E), NCRISOY 4 (TGx2020-4E) and Sc Signal
Farmers that spoke with journalists about the new development include Chikwe Obioma, an Ebonyi State based rice farmer, Musa Adamu, an Acha farmer from Kano State; and Oche Abu, a soybean farmer in Otukpo, Benue State. They all expressed delight over the new varieties released by the institute.
