The National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) says the council has commenced aggressive sensitisation to educate farmers and stakeholders on differences between grains and seeds to make informed decisions.
The Director-General of NASC, Dr Philip Ojo, made the disclosure at a round table discussion on seed and grain primary processing.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a seed is an embryonic plant covered in a seed coat and often containing some food like peanut. A seed is formed from the ripened ovule of plants after fertilization
Grains are small edible fruits, usually hard on the outside, harvested from grassy crops like rice, wheat, corn and oats.
Dr. Ojo said the sensitisation was being carried out by the council’s seed inspectors in the field to enable farmers make informed decisions and improve yields.
“There are fake seeds in the market and three seed companies have been de-listed for supplying fake seeds and they remain delisted till date.
“Individuals who are caught doing unwholesome things in the seed industry have also been jailed and that is to tell you how serious the council is taking this issue.
“Our seed inspectors are in the field to tell people the difference between grains and seeds.
“We are carrying out advocacy visit to states to ensure that good, quality seeds are sold in the markets,’’ Ojo said.
The director general said that the council was moving from visual to electronic certification of seeds.
“We have what we call cassava seed tracker that looks at core value chains from beginning to end,’’ he said..
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