From Okwe Obi, Abuja

In commemoration of the 2021 international day of plant health, the Federal Government, has announced plans to establish 6 clinics for plants across the geopolitical zones in the country.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mohammad Abubakar, stated this yesterday in Abuja, at a press conference organised by the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS)

Abubakar lamented that Nigeria lose 50% of annual farm gate value to the damages of pests as they cause yield and quality losses, reduce food availability, and increase food prices.

He added that the threats to plant health have proliferated with the increase in international trade and travel, resulting in growth in the volume and diversity of plants and plant products that arrive in different countries.

“The Buhari administration is undertaking a massive strategic intervention to equip the NAQS Post-Entry Station and Training School in Ibadan to serve as a Center of Excellence in Plant Health.

“NAQS is planning to establish six (6) Plant Health Clinics across the geopolitical zones of the country,” he said.

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NAQS Director General, Vincent Isegbe, said Nigeria stands a better chance of raking in millions of naira from plants through export.

“Nigeria is blessed with different agricultural produce and we can make money from them when we export them but there is the need to subject the goods to pre-requisite quarantine inspection and certification before dispatch.

“Other countries come to Nigeria and buy our agricultural produce such as ginger, garlic and so on. They go and repackage them, export them and make foreign exchange from these products,” he said.