NASC reaffirms commitment to agric innovation

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Muhammed disclosed that this year’s edition is the second since the initiative was launched in 2025.

According to him, the maiden Boot Camp laid a strong foundation and revealed significant interest among young Nigerian professionals working at the intersection of law, plant breeding, seed systems, and intellectual property.

He revealed that only 30 participants were selected for the 2026 cohort from over 600 applications received nationwide, describing the process as rigorous, merit-based, and carefully balanced across disciplines and regions.

“To our 2026 cohort, let me congratulate you warmly. Your presence here reflects your excellence, your promise, and your commitment to contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s evolving PVP ecosystem. You earned your place here, and we are proud of you,” he said.

The Director-General stressed that while the passage of the PVP Act was historic, legislation alone would not deliver impact without competent administrators, skilled breeders, informed legal practitioners, and policy-aware professionals who understand both national obligations and international standards.

Over the course of the Boot Camp, he said participants are expected to engage deeply with the UPOV framework, Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) examination processes, breeders’ rights enforcement, commercialisation strategies, and institutional coordination.

“As Director-General of NASC, I reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the Nigeria PVP Office, enhancing technical capacity, promoting awareness of breeders’ rights, and building a credible, transparent, and globally aligned system. Nigeria is not merely adopting a framework; we are building a functional and sustainable innovation system,” Muhammed stated.

He expressed appreciation to the UPOV Office for its continued support, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Nigeria, sister intellectual property agencies, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for supporting NASC in implementing the programme.

According to him, the Boot Camp forms part of a broader project aimed at strengthening NASC’s capacity for effective coordination of Early Generation Seed (EGS) production and scaling up climate-smart and nutrient-dense crop varieties.

 The Chief Registrar of the Patents and Designs Office, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jane Igwe,  called for the need for Nigeria’s IP system to align with global standards such as those set by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), especially as biotechnology, gene editing, and hybrid development continue to evolve.

While advocating strong protection for breeders, Igwe stressed the importance of balancing breeder rights with farmers’ rights, biodiversity concerns, benefit-sharing, and traditional knowledge systems.

“The future of plant IP is not about exclusion, it is about structured inclusion,” she said, adding that modern plant variety systems must reflect the realities of developing economies where agriculture remains both a livelihood and heritage.

She charged participants at the Boot Camp to think beyond compliance and focus on sustainability, competitiveness, and national development.