Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc today announced a strategic partnership with Corteva Agriscience, the Agriculture Division of DowDupont. The partnership will see both companies work together towards the development of a special kind of maize hybrid seed for the Nigerian market.
Both companies will work “together on key aspects of the maize value chain in Nigeria”, with focus on capacity building and knowledge transfer. They will also be focusing on the promotion of modern farming methods, and the need for improved and quality outputs; seeds and crop protection.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, in a press release announcing this development, stated that the move is in line with the company’s commitment “to be a catalyst in the in the transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural sector”.
Meanwhile, commenting earlier on the development, FMN’s Chairman Mr John Coumantaros, said that the company is excited about the partnership with Corteva Agriscience and what they can achieve together.
We are excited about the prospects of this partnership and what we can achieve. Corteva Agriescience is a globally renowned company with a wealth of experience in crop protection and biotechnology solutions and will introduce new and exciting seed protection techniques that will help develop the maize hybrid seed market in Nigeria.
Over the years, FMN has invested heavily in the primary processing, aggregation, and distribution of locally grown grains such as maize, soybean, rice, sorghum, and wheat, and are passionate about strengthening the capabilities of small-scale farmers, even as we seek out new ways of deepening our supply chain. -Mr John Coumantaros
Also commenting was FMN’s Group Managing Director, Paul Gbadebo who noted that the partnership is still in its “sustainability testing phase for the most viable varieties suitable for this environment and envisage that the next step will be to establish in Nigeria, a world-class hybrid maize production plant.”
Meanwhile, Corteva Agriscience’s Commercial Unit Director for Africa and the Middle East, Mr Prabdeep Bajwa, said that the partnership with FMN is in line with the company’s aim to collaborate across food chains with hopes of transforming agriculture and the role it plays in the society.
In the meantime, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Corteva Agriscience have begun work on demonstration farms in Nigeria, with the aim of showcasing high-performing maize varieties.
Note that Nigeria currently produces about 1.5 metric hectares of maize, and it has projected that improved hybrids and the adoption of other improved farming mechanisms will exponentially increase production yield to as much as 100% in the next five years.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc was incorporated in 1960. It is one of the foremost flour milling companies in the country. The company’s shares traded at ₦34.70 as at yesterday May 17th.
DowDupont Inc. is an American company which was formed in 2017 following the merger of Dupont and Dow Chemical. The two companies, which were hitherto independent science-based entities, decided to come together to drive innovation in Agriculture, Material Science and Special Products Industries.