Who We Are
Our Brief History
National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike started on 1st January, 1923 on a 20 hectare land, as a British colonial Provincial Experimental farm, under the Colonial Nigeria Department of Agriculture with headquarters at Moor Plantation Ibadan. Following Nigerian regionalization of Government Departments in 1954, it came under the Eastern Region Ministry of Agriculture, supervised by the Director of Agriculture at Enugu. In 1955, the School of Agriculture was established at the same location. The Provincial Experimental Farm or Research Station became known as the Eastern Nigeria Agricultural Research Station in 1956. Both the research station and the school were amalgamated in 1965 and called Agricultural Research and Training Station (ARTS), Umudike. On 1st April, 1972 the then Federal Military government of Nigeria took over this station and renamed it Federal Agricultural Research and Training Station (FARTS), Umudike.
The Station was upgraded to a commodity Research Institute in 1975 by Agricultural Research Institutes Decree 35, 1973 and Research Institutes (Establishment etc) Order 1975, and renamed National Root Crops Research Institute. The Institute came under the aegis of National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) by Decree No. 5 of January 1977. In 1980, it was transferred to the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. From 1986, the Institute came under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMANR). In 1992, the Institute’s Federal College of Agriculture was directed to relocate to Ishiagu, Ebonyi State, and its premises were taken over by Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. In 2006, the Institute and its Federal College of Agriculture came under the supervision of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Abuja; an agency under the FMANR.
Location and Land Area
The Institute’s headquarters at Umudike is strategically located at about 8 km South east of Umuahia (Abia State capital) along the Umuahia-IkotEkpene Federal Road. By road,it is 130km North of Port-Harcourt sea port, 135km South of Enugu International Airport and less than 70km East of Owerri Cargo Airport. It is situated on latitude 51/2oN and on longitude 71/2oE and 122m above sea level.
The headquarters at Umudike originally occupied an area of about 419 hectares while its outstations spreading across the country occupy a total land area of over 1,000 hectares.
Outstations
We operate seven strategically located outstations across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, extending NRCRI’s research, technologies, and agricultural interventions to diverse farming environments while supporting field research, technology dissemination, and community collaboration.
The seven outstations are:
- Kuru – Plateau State
- Otobi – Benue State
- Igbariam – Anambra State
- Nyanya – Federal Capital Territory/Nasarawa State
- Maro – Kaduna State
- Iresi – Osun State
- Gassol – Taraba State (to be resuscitated)
Institute Governance and Administrative Structure
The National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike is administratively supervised by a Governing Board, which is accountable to the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Governing Board is responsible for policy initiatives, while the Executive Director, as the Chief Executive of the Institute, is responsible for the overall administration and day-to-day running of the Institute.
The Executive Director is presently assisted by eleven (11) Technical Directors. Together with the Head of the Internal Audit Unit, they constitute the Institute’s Internal Management Committee (IMC).
To ensure efficient and effective management, the Institute is organized into specialized departments, which are further structured into programmes, units, and sections according to their respective functions.
Activities and Mandate of NRCRI
The National Mandate Of NRCRI Is to research into genetic improvement, production, processing, storage and socio-economics of root and tuber crops of economic importance (Yam, Cassava, Potato, Sweetpotato, Cocoyam, Ginger, Hausa Potato (Solenostemon Rotindifolinus), Sugerbeet, Radish, Rizga, And Amora (Arrow Root) ). NRCRI Also Has the Zonal Mandate of reaching into the entire farming system of South-East Agro-Ecological Zone. The zone covers Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo State of Nigeria.
NRCRI additionally execute agricultural extension services in liaison with relevant federal and state agencies such as national agricultural extension research and liaisons services (NAERLS)and the state’s Agricultural Development Projects (ADPS) on its mandate crop within the mandate zone.