Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Weekly Subject Experts’ Presentation was held at Hall F, ML Agwai Block, Abuja. There was one presentation made by the Subject Experts on China.
The presentation was made by Maj Gen JA Orokpo (Rtd) subject experts on China, he discussed how China Employs Sci-Tech to Improve Biological Breeding and Seed Varieties. The China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on 11 Feb 24 that China has boosted its biological breeding industry through scientific and technological methods, contributing greatly to the country’s steady supply of grain and other major agricultural products. In recent years, China has solidly pushed forward its seed industry revitalisation, and has achieved a number of breakthroughs.
Li Jiayang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences emphasised that “the core goals in the future are to increase production and improve the quality of the seeds, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and decrease losses caused by natural disasters”.
In his analysis and lessons for Nigeria, Maj Gen JA Orokpo (Rtd) noted that, food security is a major issue in Nigeria, with millions of people at risk of hunger and malnutrition. “According to UNICEF, 25 million Nigerians were at risk of food insecurity in 2023 due to persistent violence in the North East and North Central states, armed banditry, and kidnapping in other states of the Federation”.
He stressed further that, Nigerian government bio-breeding research institutions such as the National Biosafety Management Agency and the National Biotechnology Development Agency, have been involved in producing bio-technologically derived breeding and crop varieties to address food security challenges.
He recommended that, Federal Government of Nigeria should allocate more resources to agricultural R&D to enhance livestock and crop yields, also the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (FMA) should promote the modernisation of agricultural infrastructure and processing plants to increase productivity and reduce post harvest losses.
