The National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan started as The National Fruit and vegetable Research and Development Centre (NFVRDC) with the assistance of UNDP/FAO Project NIR/72/007. By the Federal Government Agricultural Research Institutes Establishment Decree Order No. 35 of June 1975, the Centre metamorphosed into the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) along with other Agricultural Research Institutes. The Institute is under the coordination of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).

The Institute has 1,671ha of land with the headquarters on 350ha of land at Ibadan, Oyo State; a substation on an 810ha of land in the humid forest zone of Okigwe in Imo State and a second substation on a 310ha of land at Bagauda in the Guinea Savannah zone of Kano, Kano State. NIHORT has an experimental station on a 126ha of land in the Sudan Savannah zone of Dadinkowa in Gombe State also another on a 75ha of land at Riyom in the mid altitude zone of Jos in Plateau State.

NIHORT is the only Horticultural Research Institute in Nigeria and West African with a mandate to carry out research on fruits, vegetables, spices and ornamental plants. These four categories of plants are made of more than one hundred different plants species.

Vision
To develop horticultural produce and products for local and export markets with attendant health, industrial raw materials and employment generation benefits.

Mission Statement
To develop sustainable production and utilization of horticultural crops in order to achieve excellence in fruits, vegetables, spices, ornamentals as well as aromatic plants in Nigeria.

Mandates
The institute has the mandate to conduct research into genetic improvement, production, processing, storage, utilization and marketing of tropical fruits, vegetables, spices and ornamentals plants of both nutritional and economic importance.

Organizational Structure
National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) has at the apex, the Executive Director, who is the research and administrative head as well as the Chief Accounting Officer of the Institute. The Executive Director also has direct responsibility for overall policy and direction of the institute.

The Research activities of the institutes are carried out under the following programmes:

  1. Citrus Improvement Programme
  2. Fruits Improvement Programme
  3. Vegetable Improvement Programme
  4. Spices Improvement Programme
  5. Floriculture Improvement Programme
  6. Farming Systems Research and Extension Programme
  7. Product Development Programme

Other Support Departments includes:

  • Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation department
  • Human Resources Department
  • Information and Documentation Department
  • Finance and Account Department