- Moves to set up a functional PVP office
- Says act would generate over N3 billion annually
The National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) in collaboration with Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), on Thursday, 12th of August, 2021, unveiled the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act 2021 in an event held at the NAF conference center, Abuja.
The programme with the theme “Unveiling the Plant Variety Protection Act 2021.”, is designed to protect plant breeders and enthusiasts by granting them an intellectual property right over their planting rights.
In an opening speech, the Director General of the council, Dr. Olusegun Ojo disclosed that the importance of having a PVP law in place cannot be over emphasize as the Nigeria’s agricultural sector transformation is a significant reason why the country should pay attention to plant variety protection (PVP).
Ojo revealed that the act will incentivize national and multinational agribusiness investments in the country, as Nigerians, would begin to see 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 the private sector in few years to come.
He said: “Ladies and Gentlemen, as we celebrate the new PVP law, marking an end to the first phase of this journey (the Introduction phase), we are starting another phase, which is the journey towards full implementation of the law. This new journey is a very daunting one and I wish to use this opportunity to solicit for your continued support to ensure we gain significantly as a nation from the benefits of this new law.
“From this innovation a lot income will be generated from the law even by breeders because it is actually an innovation that is going to bring in a lot of revenue to breeders and farmers. We look at making N2 billion to N3 billion annually. For a lot of companies that do not want to bring their genetics an opportunity has presented itself. Guidelines are going to be implemented to fast track the scheme.
Today’s convergence is a major step towards a successful implementation: Having the law in place and the content of the law not well shared amongst key stakeholders will ultimately affect its implementation. This is why today the NASC and the NESG, a key strategic partner with support of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), USAID, BMGF, Rockefeller Foundation and the UKAID has brought together this consultative gathering to present key features of the new Act to the Nigerian public. Today’s gathering is going to be very interactive as time will permit us because we are very open to hear from you all!
The CEO of NESG, Mr Laoye Jaiyeola, represented by Ms. Gloria Ekpo commended the federal government and the National Assembly for signing the Act into law following deliberations, advocacy visits, closed-door meetings, expert reviews, and traditional and digital campaigns.“According to the Pan African Farmer Organisation (PAFO), while stating that the agriculture sector in Nigeria needs six times more seeds than it currently utilises in order to fulfill its yield and production potential.
“We understand the importance of seed security in Nigeria and the fact that it is going to give small-scale farmers the opportunity to build on what we have on the effective of seed. If you look you will see that seed has been very expensive. So, this is an opportunity for every farmer to access seeds, because once we have good seeds, productivity will be enhanced and our farmers will have an opportunity to earn better income. He added.
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