Economy
FG Releases 49 New High Yield Crop Varieties to Farmers
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Government of Nigeria has released 49 new high yield crop varieties to farmers through the National Varieties Release Committee (NVRC) to boost food production in the country.
This was disclosed by Mr Oladosu Awoyemi, the NVRC Chairman at the 30th meeting of the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breed/Fishes in Ibadan, Oyo State yesterday.
He explained that “All the 49 hybrid varieties of 11 crops submitted for consideration, registration and release by the Nigerian research institutes and private sector seed companies were approved for release.
“The released crop varieties include two rice hybrids namely Arize 6444 Gold and Arize TEJ Gold.
“Two high protein-rich oat varieties namely SAMOAT 1 and SAMOAT 2, three Durum wheat varieties namely LACRI-WHIT 12D and LACRI- WHIT 13D.
“Three pro-Vitamin A hybrids cassava, namely UMUCASS 52, UMUCASS 53 and UMUCASS 54.
“Nineteen maize varieties namely ILOMAZ 2; HAKIM 1, HAKIM 2; HAKIM 3; DK7500; SAMMAZ 64, 65, 66, 67; Drought TECO WE8206; WACQH6, WAC55E, WAC14M5, among others.”
On the activities of NVRC, he said the decree that set up the committee makes it mandatory “for anybody who wants to release new varieties of crop into the Nigerian farming community to send samples of that seed to research institute that is relevant for it”.
“The research institute will test such seed across the ecological zones for which it is recommended.
“And, when they are satisfied that it is suitable for cultivation in Nigeria, then, they will bring it to the committee to officially consider it for release on registration.
“We have a national register of all important that are produced in Nigeria that has been certified by the committee.
“And, if there is any new research officer who wants to go into any crop he has to go into the register to see what has been done in the past before he can now start of what to do in the future,” he explained.
In his remarks, Mr Mohammed Al Hassan, the Commissioner for Agriculture in Jigawa, who sponsored the release of Durum Wheat said, “this is the first time hard wheat (durum wheat) would be registered and released to Nigerian farmers.
According to Mr Alhassan, Durum wheat is very high in yielding as it has very low fertilizer requirement, and produces big grains which are attractive and the price is different in the markets which make it give farmers high earnings.
He said that the expectation of farmers in Jigawa was to continuously improve varieties of various crops planted in the state.
Mr Alhassan said the vision of the state government “is to make sure that economy of the country was improved through agriculture for the benefits of Nigerians, especially people of Jigawa.”
On his part, Mr Sheu Ado, the National Coordinator for Maize Research, said the development in the new crops varieties were encouraging.
According to Mr Ado, some crops, which are not even grown previously in the country, such as oat, “is now being cultivated to improve the availability of food in the country.
“If we can grow our own oat, then, such amount of money expended in foreign exchange on importation of oat will be conserved for the country.”
In his remarks, Mr Olusegun Ojo, the Director-General of National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), said the 49 crops that have been officially released by the committee would be passed on to the council.
Mr Ojo said the council would make arrangements for wide multiplication of the crop for distribution to all farmers across the country.
“The expectations of the farmers will be higher yields, better resistance crops and at the end of the day, what farmers will be taken home as a result of the higher yields would be higher productivity and more income in their pockets.
“The process of getting a crop released for broad distribution involves testing the seed at research institutes and on farmers’ fields across the country.
“It is only when representatives of farmers have accepted that the crop is good for them and that such crop is better than the old varieties, then we bring it to the committee for consideration for official release,” he said.
Adding his input, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, the Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), said the agency was saddle with the responsibility of looking into the genetic constituents of the crops.
“Looking at it from that angle, this is the transformation of the crops and bringing in new varieties of the crops; it affects genes constituent so the gene threat is what defined the quality, the yield and characters there.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The board of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc can raise an additional N30 billion from the capital market, shareholders have declared.
They gave the authorisation for this fresh capital raise at the company’s 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Thursday, June 25, 2026.
This was one of the resolutions passed at the yearly shareholders’ gathering, attended by several persons, including board and management members as well as investors and others.
The approval for new capital raise is coming after the board was, on June 23, 2025, authorised to raise up to N20.0 billion. For this tranche, only N2.440 billion was raised by the organisation, leaving an untilised balance of approximately N17.560 billion.
The company has now been given the authority to get fresh N30.0 billion, according to disclosure from Neimeth.
In the notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Neimeth said the board was asked to “raise additional capital of up to N30.0 billion through an issuance of shares (to be issued, whether by way of public offering, rights issue, private/special placement to strategic or identified investors), commercial papers, bonds, convertible and non-convertible securities), medium term notes and/or any other instruments, either as a stand-alone or by way of programmes, in such tranches, series or proportions, at such coupon or interest rates, within such maturity periods, or on such terms and conditions, through a combination of methods or processes, all of which shall be based on terms and conditions to be determined by the board and subject to obtaining the approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities.”
The shareholders resolved that “the aggregate shareholders’ approval for capital raising shall accordingly be N50.0 billion, of which approximately N2.440 billion has already been raised by way of rights issue, leaving an unutilised balance of approximately N47.560 billion available for raising.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Food Concepts Plc helped root the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in negative territory, following a 0.36 per cent slide on Monday, June 29.
FrieslandCampina, which is the maker of milk brands Peak Milk and Three Crowns, lost N13.44 to trade at N141.76 per unit compared with its previous price of N155.2o per unit, while Food Concepts, which is the parent company of fast food giant Chicken Republic, declined by 8 Kobo to end at N2.43 per share versus last Friday’s price of N2.51 per share.
Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) slid by 15.51 points to 4,261.56 points from 4,277.07 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.31 billion to close at N2.557 trillion compared with the previous value of N2.567 trillion.
The bourse finished with two price advancers yesterday, with Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc up by N3.80 to trade at N88.48 per unit versus N84.68 per unit, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc gaining 31 Kobo to end at N21.40 per share versus N21.09 per share.
The volume of securities traded by investors on the first trading day of the week contracted by 75.9 per cent to 229,314 units from the previous 955,096 units, and the value of securities slumped 17.8 per cent to N24.6 million from N29.9 million, while the number of deals increased by 9.7 per cent to 34 deals from the 31 deals recorded last Friday.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.7 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc followed with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira crashed against the United States Dollar by N2.70 0r 0.2 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 29, to N1,383.63/$1 from last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,380.93/$1.
This was influenced by FX pressure on the domestic currency, which also weakened its exchange rate against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N6.06 to N1,831.64/£1 from the previous value of N1,824.90/£1. It also depleted the Nigerian currency against the Euro by 45 Kobo, trading at N1,578.03/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,577.58/€1.
However, it maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market and the GTBank forex desk yesterday at N1,395/$1 and N1,387/$1, respectively.
Despite the pressure on the Naira, it is still trading within the expected range, as a result of ongoing FX reforms, stronger market liquidity, and increased transparency in the FX market.
Unlike in previous years, the improved stability is reflected in the relatively narrow spread between the official exchange rate and rates in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment, suggesting that reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are helping to improve price discovery and reduce distortions.
Also, Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the apex bank with the capacity to support the Naira and meet the country’s external obligations, have continued to trend upward. Most recent data published on the apex bank’s website showed that reserves rose to $51.29 billion as of June 26, 2026.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) lost momentum after it dropped below $60,000, remaining under its 200-week moving average as currency markets swung following the Japanese Yen slipping to four-decade lows against the US Dollar.
Strategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin, plans to sell more than $1 billion of BTC as part of a $1.25 billion monetisation program, a sharp break from Michael Saylor’s long-held “never sell” stance. BTC traded at $59,463.89.
Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.9 per cent to $0.0723, TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3196, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.2 per cent to $0.1446, and Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.1 per cent to close at $1.04.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) gained 2.5 per cent to sell at $73.99, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,587.51, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.01 per cent to sell for $552.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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