Jigawa State is exploring a significant agricultural partnership with an Egyptian-based plant research and development company, EFC Plants, focusing on advanced plant tissue culture technology.
This is while Governor Malam Umar Namadi headed a state government’s technical delegation to Cairo to initiate discussions on this collaboration, which aims to boost the production of date palms and Irish potatoes within Jigawa State.
The technical and investment mission is part of the State Government’s efforts to transform the agricultural sector through biotechnology, improve access to disease-free planting materials, raise productivity and attract private investment into priority agricultural value chains.
During the visit, Governor Namadi and members of the delegation inspected EFC’s plant tissue-culture and biotechnology facilities, including climate-controlled greenhouses, cold-storage facilities capable of handling up to six million plantlets, a plant pathology laboratory, sterilisation and preparation facilities, as well as specialised growth and incubation rooms.
The delegation also received technical briefings on the complete tissue-culture production process, from the selection and laboratory testing of mother plants through micropropagation, incubation, rooting, acclimatisation and greenhouse management to storage and preparation for commercial distribution.
