National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) has said the implementation of the new Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act 2021 would generate over $2billion for Nigeria in its first five years.
Dr Philip Olusegun Ojo, Director General of NASC, announced this on Monday at a media briefing in Abuja.
Ojo who profusely thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the PVP bill into law on May 21, 2021, said the new Act would enhance agricultural productivity and generate wealth to both plant breeders and farmers.
He explained that the new PVP Act would protect the intellectual property of plant breeders as well as enable Nigerian farmers to have access to the best genetics or seeds to boost agricultural productivity.
He also pointed that the Act would boost economic activities, create more jobs and guarantee food security in the country.
According to him, “This law will bring out clearly going forward the contribution of plant breeding to the Nigerian agricultural sector.
” We will begin to see on our farmer’s field superior yielding, stress-tolerant, disease resistant, climate smart and input efficient varieties which will be introduced by innovative breeders both from the public and private sectors in few years.“We will begin to witness efficient land use and reduced food cost as a result of the increased productivity from cultivated hectares across the country.” (Independent)