Abuja: Prof. Victor Adetimirin, the President of the Nigerian Plant Breeders Association (NPBA), has called for increased investment in research and scientific innovations to reposition the nation’s agricultural sector and ensure food security. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he made the call at a news conference on Saturday in Abuja. The event was held to unveil plans and programs for the 2026 NPBA Annual Conference scheduled for September 23 to 24 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Adetimirin emphasized that as Nigeria grapples with food insecurity, investment in research and innovative agricultural methods is needed to increase productivity and food sufficiency. He noted that Nigeria faces the challenge of feeding its growing population under increasingly difficult conditions, including climate change, emerging pests and diseases, and declining soil productivity. He added that pressure on available farmland, unstable agricultural supply chains, and r
ising production costs threaten sustainable food production.
Adetimirin stated, “Meeting these challenges requires more than expanding the area under cultivation. Nigeria must also improve the productivity, resilience, and profitability of its agricultural systems. Plant breeding is central to this process.” He stressed that investment in plant breeding was essential to developing improved crop varieties with higher yields and greater resistance to pests, diseases, drought, heat, and other environmental stresses.
According to him, plant breeders play a central role in sustainable agricultural production through the development of improved crop varieties using conventional and modern breeding techniques. “Investment in plant breeding and crop improvement is not only an investment in science; it is an investment in agricultural productivity, business development, supply-chain stability, and national food security,” he said. “Through conventional breeding, genetics, biotechnology, genomics, and other modern to
ols, we develop improved crop varieties that produce higher yields and resist important pests and diseases,” he added.
The president highlighted the need for stronger collaboration among universities, research institutions, government agencies, seed companies, farmers, financial institutions, agribusinesses, and development partners to turn research into practical solutions. He mentioned that the 2026 annual NPBA conference, themed ‘Leveraging Breeding Innovations and Strategic Partnerships for Agribusiness Investment, Stable Supply Chain, and National Food Security in a Changing Climate,’ would provide a national platform for presenting scientific advances, exchanging ideas, building partnerships, and exploring opportunities for transforming research innovations into commercially viable agricultural solutions.
“This is not just a scientific theme. It is a national development agenda that speaks to the question of how Nigeria can use science, innovation, partnerships, and investment to build an agricultural
sector that is more productive, resilient, competitive, and ultimately capable of feeding our growing population and also earn revenue through export,” Adetimirin stated. He further explained that the conference would offer a platform for different actors in the sector to explore how scientific innovations can be translated into products, enterprises, investments, and measurable impacts.
Also speaking, Prof. Peter Aikpokpodion, Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, said improved crop varieties developed through breeding had significantly increased farmers’ yield potential compared with traditional varieties. He noted that inadequate funding remained a major challenge to plant breeding research, urging stronger public-private partnerships to support research programs and seed systems.
Aikpokpodion mentioned that the conference would bring together stakeholders across the agricultural value chain, including researchers, government agencies, private sector operators, banks, investors, seed companies,
farmer groups, commodity groups, and scholars. “We are expecting bankers at this conference. Investors will be there, farmers will be there, commodity groups will be there, seed companies will be there, and researchers themselves will be there,” he said.
He explained that the conference was designed as a multi-stakeholder platform beyond academia, with participants expected from both the private and public sectors, research institutions, and international organizations. Aikpokpodion added that representatives of the African Development Bank and participants from the Republic of Benin, South Africa, and other African countries were expected at the conference.
Dr. Ijeoma Akaogu, Treasurer of the NPBA, mentioned that modern breeding technologies could shorten the time required to develop improved crop varieties while undergoing rigorous safety and regulatory assessments. “We cannot just wait for 15 or 20 years before we get an improved variety, so we use improved technologies to speed up the process,” Akaogu s
aid.
She explained that technologies such as genetic modification and genome editing undergo rigorous laboratory, field, food-safety, and environmental assessments before approval for commercial release. Akaogu added that improved varieties could increase farmers’ productivity and reduce production costs.
In his remarks, Dr. Charles Amadi, Team Lead of the Media and Publicity Sub-Committee of the conference planning committee, said the event would offer an opportunity to present informed conversations around plant breeding. NAN reports that NPBA is the professional body that brings together plant breeders and other professionals involved in crop improvement, genetics, biotechnology, seed science, and related disciplines in Nigeria. The association provides a platform for scientific exchange, professional development, collaboration, advocacy, and the advancement of plant breeding as a critical component of agricultural development and national food security. NPBA is the official affiliate of the African Plan
t Breeders Association, the body of plant breeders on the African continent.