IITA News – May 15 2023

IITA–CGIAR, in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), launched a cassava seed quality self-compliance reporting module on its SeedTracker platform in Abuja on 3 April. This new module enables cassava seed entrepreneurs (CSEs) to report on the quality and condition of seed production fields.

The three Institutions are collaborating under the BASICS project, which aims to integrate the cassava seed value chain to produce and deliver high-quality seeds of improved cassava varieties at affordable prices.

Speaking at the launch at the IITA Abuja campus, Virologist and Head of IITA Germplasm Health Unit, Lava Kumar, said the new module aimed to establish sustainable and profitable customer seed enterprises in Nigeria. According to him, 30 cassava seed entrepreneurs who have been producing cassava seed for the last five years have been identified to train to pilot the scheme and learn how things work at the ground level.

The event included the hands-on practice of seed quality self-reporting using SeedTracker, hands-on training in the cassava field, detailed discussion with some of the CSEs who took delight in sharing their experiences over the years, and ended with a presentation of certificates to CSEs.

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