The government in Ouagadougou has signed an agreement with an agricultural research institute to produce wheat seed on an industrial scale.
The agreement, which is worth more than 113 million CFA francs, aims to produce wheat seed for a real revival of the sector, the Ministry of Agriculture reported in a social media post.
The seed is to be developed by the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) whose researchers are already producing 20 tonnes of wheat seed pre-basic.
The pre-basic seed will be made available to seed producers for multiplication, the government said.
“The convention will make it possible to provide the ministry with 10 tonnes of basic wheat seed, i.e. 50 percent of the country’s seed needs,” it said.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Denis Ouedraogo, said that the production of wheat in Burkina Faso will reduce the country’s dependence on imports, create jobs for young people and women who will work in processing and ensure food and nutritional security.
50 varieties of soft wheat for bread-making and 49 varieties of hard wheat for couscous are being tested at Farako-ba, on an INERA site.
Only five of them are registered in the national catalogue, ready to be popularised.
The best time to produce wheat in the country is between October and November to take advantage of the cooler weather in December and beyond, INERA researchers said.
Burkina Faso is heavily dependent on imports of cereal products.
Following the Ukraine conflict, the price of bread has risen sharply in the country.
DS/lb/as/APA