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The Federal Government has approved the release of 17 new high yield crop varieties to Nigerian farmers to enhance food production according to the National Varieties Release Committee (NVRC).
NVRC chairman, Oladosu Awoyemi said at the 23rd meeting of the NVRC at Ibadan only 17 of the 24 crop varieties submitted by research institutes, seed companies and crop scientists/breeders from all over the country were approved.
Prof. Olusoji Olufajo, chairman, Technical Sub Committee (TSC) Crops, gave breakdown of the release as two potato varieties (RUMBA and JELLY), eight maize hybrids (DK 234, DK 777, DK 818, DK 920, OBA SUPER 11, OBA SUPER 13, SAMMAZ 46, and SAMMAZ 47) and one maize variety (SAMMAZ 48).
Others include two sorghum, two sweet pepper hybrids (Jupiter and Lafayette) and two cabbage hybrids (Gloria and Proctor).
With respect to the maize varieties, the chairman said Maize hybrid DK 234 was recommended based on high grain yield, good stay green characteristic, standability and tolerance to Striga hermonthica pest.
Agricultural organisations, seed companies, breeders and research institutes who developed the varieties are National Root Crops Research Institute, Kuru, Sygenta Nigeria Ltd. and Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria.