Nigeria has released five new cassava varieties to farmers for adoption across the country.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Ernest Umakhihe, who disclosed this during the NextGen meeting in Abuja said the move was to enhance food security and increase income for farmers.
Nigeria is acknowledged as the highest producer of root crops in the world.
The country is however not among those rated to have the highest yield of cassava tubers per hectare.
Nigeria is said to be struggling to produce over 10 tonnes cassava tubers per hectare even though it has the capacity to attain 40 tonnes per hectare.
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This underscored the need to adopt new seed systems, which necessitated NextGen cassava project.
Under the project, several varieties of the roots crop have been developed, meaning farmers now have access to affordable, quality-assured seeds of improved cassava roots through the establishment of a commercially viable seed value chain.
The five next generation varieties feature high yields and robust disease resistance.
The event was to evaluate the progress made so far in cassava production.
( Editor, Omor Bazuaye )
