An agriculture expert and Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Smallholder Solutions (FSSS), Isaiah Gabriel, has attributed Nigeria’s poor competitiveness in the global rice market to limited access to high-quality rice varieties.
Gabriel made the revelation during an interview with journalists on Thursday in Abuja.
He emphasized that Nigeria requires a seed variety enhancement project to equip farmers with data-driven tools aimed at boosting productivity and increasing yields.
He noted that many Nigerian farmers lack access to the right seed varieties suited to their specific agro-ecological zones, limiting both output and quality.
“The reason our local rice is not globally competitive is that we do not have good varieties of rice,” Gabriel said.
“This project will allow us to access different rice varieties across various agro-ecological zones and identify the most suitable options, ensuring farmers get the right seeds to boost their productivity,” Gabriel said.
He explained that the seed variety enhancement project is aimed at generating and sharing reliable data with farmers, breeders, and other stakeholders across the agricultural value chain to support informed decision-making.
“We want to make this data available so farmers can make well-informed choices that enhance their productivity,” he added.
