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Olam Agri records significant milestone in wheat variety corporate
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Saturday, 30 November, 2024, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
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Lagos, Nigeria
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Olam Agri has further underlined its commitment to helping Nigeria towards greater wheat production self-sufficiency and food security with the release of a novel heat-tolerant and super-early durum wheat variety suitable for local cultivation during the harmattan season.
This release of this wheat variety signals another milestone achievement for Olam Agri’s Seed for the Future wheat seed trial and multiplication effort, which was unveiled in 2021. The initiative is focused on removing hurdles to wheat production self-sufficiency in the country. It prioritises developing and cultivating seed varieties that suit the country’s unique topographic and climatic conditions and training a wide range of smallholder farmers on modern agronomic practices.
In partnership with the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) and Dr Filippo Bassi, a specialist wheat breeder at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the initiative achieved its first-year milestone of producing 10 kg of pre-multiplication wheat seed varieties in September 2022 and this season, ten women-owned farms will plant the seed variety in December, with hundreds of farms set to benefit in 2025 and thousands more in 2026. ICARDA developed the Crown novel heat-tolerant and super-early durum wheat variety as part of the Olam Prize for Innovation.
Dr Filippo Bassi, principal scientist genetic innovations at ICARDA, “The Crown wheat variety is tailored for the Nigerian growing conditions after working closely with local farmers to understand their needs, especially the need to grow wheat early and allow the farmers to harvest and replant rice on time. Based on test results, the variety is certified and suitable for pasta production.”
Dr Kachalla Mala, LCRI breeder and critical partner in the project, said, “Availability and accessibility of quality seed varieties are important to farmers and we are excited to release the Crown heat-tolerant, high-yielding wheat seed variety. In collaboration with Olam Agri and ICARDA, this is the first step in a chain of actions to work with women’s cooperative unions and local farmers to multiply and commercialise the seed.”
Each female farmer will receive one quintal of the Crown seed variety and in addition to the agronomic training the women receive, financing will enable them to cultivate and multiply the initial seed into three tons of certified seeds. They will then engage communities to further multiply to 30 tons of seeds and commercialise it for neighbouring communities.
Nitin Mehta, managing director, Olam Agri’s Crown flour milling business, said, “We are glad to reach this critical milestone of releasing a novel heat-tolerant durum-wheat seed variety tailored to the Nigerian farming condition. We consistently focus on making bold investments in projects that will enable the country to achieve its food production self-sufficiency goals and understand the importance of wheat-derivative food such as pasta, bread, confectioneries, pastries and biscuits in local dining.”
Anil Nair, managing director of Olam Agri’s operations in Nigeria, said, “The milestone release of the novel durum wheat seed variety supports the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and focus on food security. This initiative is not only advancing greater domestic wheat production but is also empowering women farmers to play a critical role in scaling up farming communities. The future is bright for the food value chain and we look forward to 100% Nigerian-grown pasta.”
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