The Federal Government has appealed to China to assist Nigeria in the areas of seeds research, agriculture machinery and training for youths and rural farmers to promote the country’s agriculture sector.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, stated this on Wednesday when he received the Governor of Hunan Province, Xu Dazhe and his team in Abuja.

Ogbeh said that Nigeria had about 45 million hectares of land which are yet to be cultivated or used for agricultural purposes.

The minister stressed that the partnership would help Nigeria to increase the country’s food production potential; adding that the country required improved food production to meet the rising food demands of its growing population.

“We will definitely need support from China and Hunan Province. What we are going to need from China is seed research, machinery and training, especially for our young people and rural farmers” Ogbeh said

In his remarks, the Governor of Hunan Province, Xu Dazhe  affirmed that the team was in the country to deepen the relations between Nigeria and China as well as Hunan Province.

He called for a partnership between the Hunan Province and Nigeria on agricultural equipment, food processing and technologies.

“Hunan Province tops China in rice production and our livestock sector is also very competitive.The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Hunan Province as at 2017 is 53 billion U.S. dollars, while our growth rate is eight per cent,’’ Dazhe said.

Source : https://agronigeria.com.ng/fg-seeks-chinas-partnership-on-seeds-research/