With a focus on consolidating the achievements of the ATA in country, a three-day training on seed certification and quality control recently held at the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) in Zaria.
The training which was facilitated by the federal government had in attendance members of the NYSC, NASC certification officers, internal quality control and seed production officers of seed companies as participants.
Speaking at the training, the Acting Director-General, National Agriculture Seed Council (NASC) Dr. Philips Olusegun- Ojo disclosed the intention of the federal government to reach 20 million farmers in 2015 with fertilizers for the farming season.
According to him, the enormous success achieved with the reach of over ninety (90) percent of ATA registered farmers  through the 2014 Growth Enhancement Support (GES), has driven countries like China, Brazil, Kenya and Tanzania to come borrow a leaf from Nigeria.
While commending the initiative of the ATA to influence the view of farming as a business rather than a traditional profession with a bleak future, he commented that the task of making high quality seeds available to the farming population was enormous and required the joint effort of all key stakeholders including all tiers of government, cooperative societies, private organizations as well as individuals to ensure the sustainability of the initiative, noting the reluctance of some state governments in extending the necessary support to enhance the success of ATA in their respective states.