Researchers in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan have developed a new breed of maize, called ILOMAZ-1.

Prof. Gbolagade Adesiji, a former Ag. Dean of the Faculty announced the new development to newsmen in Ilorin on Monday.

Adesiji revealed that the newly developed maize breed has been approved for release and cultivation by farmers in the southern Guinea Savannah and rain forest ecologies of the South-Western part of Nigeria.

The immediate past Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Gbadebo Olaoye, diclosed that the faculty had, in 2007, constituted a maize team comprising soil scientists and economists in collaboration with IITA, adding that varieties of maize were treated for their yield potential, adaptation and quality.

He further said the research team for maize was sub-divided into three zones in the country and that Unilorin handles the Southern Savannah and the rain forest.

 “The yellow grained maize variety was one of the nine maize varieties that were termed open-pollinated and hybrids.

“These have been approved for release and cultivation by farmers in different agro-ecologies of Nigeria by the National Variety Release Committee (NVRC).

“This was approved through the National Committee of the Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries at a meeting recently held,’’ the Professor stated.

The maize is an open-pollinated variety, giving opportunity for a poor farmer to harvest the maize and plant for the next season.

He, therefore, assured farmers that the grains would be readily available to them during the 2021 growing season.