NBRDA, JOSTUM Explore Partnership for Biotechnology Innovation and Agricultural Development
The Director General of the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, has said the Agency remains committed to harnessing biotechnology as a catalyst for food security, agricultural transformation and national development through collaboration with universities and research institutions.
He stated this on Monday while receiving the Vice Chancellor of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (JOSTUM), Makurdi, Engr. Prof. Isaac Itodo, and his team to NBRDA’s headquarters in Abuja.
Prof. Mustapha said collaboration remains one of the most effective ways of expanding scientific innovation and ensuring that discoveries are translated into technologies, products and services that address national priorities.
The Director General also highlighted some of the Agency’s ongoing interventions, including crop improvement, soybean enhancement, hybrid rice technology transfer, solutions to ginger blight disease and emerging initiatives in genomics, which he described as one of the next frontiers of biotechnology in Nigeria.
He disclosed that NBRDA will constitute a technical committee to work with representatives of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University on a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that will define specific areas of collaboration between both institutions.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor said the University was seeking a mutually beneficial partnership with NBRDA to expand biotechnology research, innovation and agricultural development
He identified plant tissue culture, genetic transformation, seed biotechnology, molecular diagnostics, biotechnology entrepreneurship, technology incubation, bioresource conservation, knowledge exchange and capacity development as priority areas of collaboration.
The collaboration is expected to promote joint research, technology transfer, capacity development, innovation and collaborative access to research grants, while supporting climate resilient agriculture, improved seed systems and food security.
The Vice Chancellor was accompanied by the Director of the Seed Technology Centre, Dr. Alfred Jimin, and the Director of the University’s Abuja Liaison Office, Mrs. Larai Gbum.
