Institutional collaborations are critical for effectively monitoring, preventing, and controlling plant pathogens and pests. The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has partnered with IITA–CGIAR, through the Institute’s Germplasm Health Unit (IITA-GHU), as a resource base to enhance the knowledge, surveillance, and diagnostics capacity of its workforce. A 100-member team of newly recruited NAQS staff visited IITA on 17 April, as part of a 3-week induction course at the NAQS training center in Ibadan.
Head of IITA-GHU Lava Kumar welcomed the participants and introduced GHU functions and its role as a facilitator of import and export of pest-free germplasm (seed) and other bioresources, ensuring institutional compliance to phytosanitary regulations and biosecurity measures. He explained the interdependency of IITA and NAQS in preventing the spread of seed-transmitted pests during international seed exchange programs.