The National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI),Wednesday in Abuja, said Nigeria accounts for over 70 per cent of yams produced in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Nnamdi Eke-Okoro , Director\/HOD, Crop Research Operations Department , NRCRI, stated this in a presentation at a stakeholders\u2019 workshop in Abuja on Wednesday, on Repositioning Yam as an Export Crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that Nigeria is the leading producer of yam, cassava and sweet potato with 34, 59, and 30 metric tonnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDevelopment of improved varieties is over 50 for cassava, 30 for yam and 5 for sweet potato. Nigeria accounts for over 70 per cent of yams produced in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said to move into global standard, there must be collaboration between the ports authority and other stakeholders in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201d NRCRI can collaborate with other agencies to speedy up yam export chain and to reduce the level of rejections of our products abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eke-Okoro said the importance of NRCRI in yam export chain could not be over emphasised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the researcher, foreign markets are yearning for yams and are gradually expanding their scopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nwankwo said that there must be good agronomic practices for sustenance and acceptance to reposition yam as an export crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the institute has advanced laboratories equipped with latest state of the art for determination of food quality traits, physic-chemical analysis, nutrient testing, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201d NRCRI has all it takes in terms of manpower, equipment and technical know-how to be in the front line for yam export,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that strong participation in yam export chain is very important, adding that NRCRI must be a strong participant in yam export chain in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201d Policies on yam export must not exclude the role of NRCRI, it has all it takes in terms of manpower, equipment and technical know-how to be in the front line for yam export,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NRCRI conducts research into the genetic improvement, production, processing, utilization among others.<\/p>\n\n\n
The National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI),Wednesday in Abuja, said Nigeria accounts for over 70 per cent of yams produced in the world. Dr Nnamdi Eke-Okoro , Director\/HOD, Crop Research Operations Department , NRCRI, stated this in a presentation at a stakeholders\u2019 workshop in Abuja on Wednesday, on Repositioning Yam as an Export Crop. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[701,1366,949],"tags":[1791],"class_list":["post-49182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-business","category-economy","tag-yams","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n