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Food Security: Lake Chad Research Institute begins millet revolution

In a bid to fast track action plan towards achieving food security in the country, the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) said it had initiated a special millet production projects. It stated that several high yields millet varieties were recently released by the Institute to meet both farmers and other value chains stakeholders demands.

The Executive Director (LCRI), Prof. Baba Gana Kabir, disclosed this at the International Millet Festival, organised by Indian High Commission, Abuja recently. He noted that the Institute was not just committed to its statutory mandate, but working hard to ensure improvement of Millet production in the country and make it a major foreign exchange earner. According to him, the varieties released few last year December the ability to yield up to 4.5 tons per hectare annually, against the other varieties that yield only one ton per hectare. Kabir explained that the released varieties has essential minerals that improves eye sight for both children and adults.

He said: “These varieties are not only an improvement in terms of certain characteristics, but efforts of Lake Chad Research Institute has made it possible to increase the yields of the millet from the annual average yield of one ton per hectare to 4.5 tons per hectare. “Lake Chad Research Institute on the 19th of this month January 2023 released three additional varieties of millet.

This millet varieties that have been released have certain outstanding characteristics that made them more impressive than the ones earlier released. “Another variety which is fortified with minerals, zinc and iron which make them very very nutritionally superior than all other millet varieties. This particular variety is very important in improving the vision of children, the aged and ill ones. “We are committed with availability of resources to release more varieties. We are also going to look into the possibility of other varieties that are adapted for cultivation in the wilder part of the country. “We will not stop there, we will engage in breeding varieties that needs to respond to farmers, with climate change in focus.”

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