The Director General, Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr. Vincent Isegbe, who revealed this in Abuja at the inauguration of members of the Standing Committee on Agro Zero Initiative, said Nigeria was the largest producer of dried cowpea in the world, accounting for almost half of the global production.
He, however, noted that Nigeria was not among the top 10 leading exporters of dried cowpea in the world.
Recall that the EU, in January 2013, placed a temporary suspension of imports of dried beans from Nigeria for one year, due to the excessive use of chemicals by Nigerian farmers to control a pest, Maruca vitrata, from damaging crops on the field. The ban was later extended to 2022.
EU Ban: NAQS discloses effort to make Nigerian beans acceptable internationally
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By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja
The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, NAQS, Friday, disclosed an effort made to make Nigerian beans acceptable internationally.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by Head, Media, Communications and Strategy, NAQS, Dr Gozie Nwodo, where the Director-General, NAQS, Dr Vincent Isegbe, made it known during the inauguration of members of the Standing Committee on Agro Zero Initiative in Abuja, and Isegbe commended the Minister of Agriculture, Muhammad Nanono, for commitment towards repositioning NAQS to carry out its export control functions at the airports and the seaports, and for reviving the Standing Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on Agro Zero Reject Initiative.