University don makes case for cassava farming as avenue for wealth creation in Nigeria


ABRAKA – THE Federal Government has been advised to invest in cassava farming as it is the goldmine capable of creating job opportunities and wealth creation for Nigerians if properly harnessed.
This is just as the plan by the federal government to diversify the economy from oil has been described as a welcome development and an opportunity to reposition the agricultural sector in driving the nation’s economy as a pivot for industrial activities.

The charge was given by a professor of Breeding /Environmental Physiology, Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, Prof. Sunday Akparobi during the university’s 55th series of the inaugural lectures.

In his paper presentation, the university don explained that cassava remains a goldmine for Sub-Saharan desert because it is a drought surviving crop which is easy to grow and adapts to every part of the region with little care before harvest time.

According to him, “The Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest production of cassava in the world. It can meet industrial needs such as the production of bio-fuel and starch for use in paper and drug making industries.

“If the importance of cassava was properly harnessed, it would create job opportunities for over 3.5 million Nigerians from the value chain of cassava for Nigeria’s teeming unemployed population.

“Cassava is very low in fats and protein than in cereals as a 100g root of cassava provides 160 calories. Their caloric value mainly comes from sucrose which accounts for 69 percent of total sugars.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Re
Read more

NEGPRO project can create more jobs with inclusion of meat production— Badmus

•Tuns Farm leads food safety, quality system audit The Chairman , Tuns Farms Nigeria, Asiwaju Olatunde Badmus, has disclosed that the proposed one million jobs expected to be created through the National Egg Production Scheme (NEGPRO) can be doubled if extended to meat production. He made this known when a team from the office of the Vice President, Federal Ministries of Agriculture, Health and Education at the company’s headquarters in Osogbo, the Osun state capital recently. Olatunde Badmus, while sharing the company’s experience on chicken inclusion in the Osun state’s school meal program which the company has been handling since the introduction of the school feeding program four years ago, said they can achieve so much more in terms of job creation through meat production “As we speak, six state governors among who are Kebbi and Borno, have signalled their government’s preparedness to look into this and have invited TUNS farm to their states to discuss modalities for
Read more