Agriculture with Jimoh

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said it disbursed N1.994 billion to 12,405 farmers in the country in the second quarter of 2016. The CBN, in its Economic Report for the Second Quarter of 2016, disclosed that the fund was disbursed under the Agriculture Credit Guarantee Scheme in the period under review. According to the CBN, the amount disbursed represented an increase of 21.6 per cent increase above the level in the preceding quarter. The CBN also stated that agricultural activities in Nigeria rose sharply in the second quarter of 2016, due mainly to well-distributed rainfall in all parts of the country and also due to the allocation of credit to farmers. Giving a breakdown of the figures, the CBN stated that food crop received the largest share of 68.5 per cent which is N1.37 billion, granted to 9,607 beneficiaries; while livestock was received 17.6 per cent which is N351 billion granted to 1,149 beneficiaries. Fishery, the report noted, received N90 million, represe...

 Dr Heiner Lehr, an International Expert on Value Chain with the United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO), has decried the poor method of grain storage being practiced by Nigeria farmers. Lehr said this in Abuja on Thursday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the sideline of the ongoing workshop of the ``Standing Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on Zero Reject of Agricultural Commodities and non-oil Exports.’’ He said that the poor practice was a major cause for the ban on Nigeria’s beans exportation by the European Union (EU). The expert expressed regrets that storage of grains, especially beans in Nigeria lacked adequate coordination by relevant authorities and was being done with excess pesticide. According to him, too much pesticide on farm produce could cause cancer and it has been claimed to have a link to obesity in children. ``There is lack of coordination in beans storage in Nigeria and this has led to over use of pestici...

KANO --------------No fewer than  10, 000 rice farmers in Kano state are to benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN initiated Rice Anchor Borrowers Programme this wet season. Sequel to this development, the first batch of 5, 540 beneficiaries have been cleared for participation in the program while the rest are awaiting clearance from the apex bank to enable them participate. In an address during the flag-off of the programme at Bunkure Cattle Ranch in Bunkure local government area, the state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said that more farmers would be involved in the programme during the year’s dry season and subsequent rainy seasons. Ganduje said "It is envisaged that thousands of rice farmers in the state would take advantage of the programme, aimed at creating profitable linkages between over 600, 000 small holder farmers and large scale processors in Nigeria, with a view to increasing agricultural production and extensively improving capacit...

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said it disbursed N1.994 billion to 12,405 farmers in the country in the second quarter of 2016. The CBN, in its Economic Report for the Second Quarter of 2016, disclosed that the fund was disbursed under the Agriculture Credit Guarantee Scheme in the period under review. According to the CBN, the amount disbursed represented an increase of 21.6 per cent increase above the level in the preceding quarter. The CBN also stated that agricultural activities in Nigeria rose sharply in the second quarter of 2016, due mainly to well-distributed rainfall in all parts of the country and also due to the allocation of credit to farmers. Giving a breakdown of the figures, the CBN stated that food crop received the largest share of 68.5 per cent which is N1.37 billion, granted to 9,607 beneficiaries; while livestock was received 17.6 per cent which is N351 billion granted to 1,149 beneficiaries. Fishery, the report noted, received N90 million, represent...

 Some farmers in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti have expressed worry over delay in accessing the Federal Government's guaranteed loan and other farms inputs. The farmers, under the banner of `Congress of Farmers’, headed by Mr Ezekiel Ishola, expressed the worry in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Oye-Ekiti on Thursday. Ishola said that the farmers depended on the Federal Government’s promise to assist them with funds to boast their farming activities. ``Our members have registered under various agriculture programme of the Federal Government since 2015 and have been expecting the government to disburse the soft loans as promised. ``Many of us abandoned other sources we used to access funds with the hope that the soft loan from the Federal Government would serve us better, but our expectations are yet to materialise. ``The delay will surely affect productivity at the end of this farming season because some of us did not have fund to carry out our ...

 The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Jigawa has cautioned farmers against hasty sale of their entire farm produce at harvest. The AFAN Chairman, Alhaji Idris Maiunguwa, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Hadejia on Thursday. He said that the advice became necessary to guard against hike in the prices of grains and exposing their families to hunger. ``It is disheartening to see farmers who have nothing to eat few months after harvest,” he said. The AFAN chairman also urged farmers to imbibe good preservation culture by ensuring proper application of chemicals on farm produce. He added that the association had commenced sensitisation of its members on the need for them to preserve farm produce. NAN recalls that farmers recorded high yields, following appreciable rain recorded in this cropping season in the state. The chairman called on farmers to report pest infestation to extension workers to control the problem. He, howev...

Chief Anthony Ndubuka, a major rice dealer in Umuahia, has expressed optimism that the price of rice would soon fall in Nigeria. Ndubuka expressed the optimism in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Thursday while speaking on the high price of the grains in the country. He said that the grains would become affordable as soon as farmers began to harvest the grains in the next few months. "I am confident that there will be a bumper harvest this year. So, by November, the price of the commodity will definitely come down," he said. Ndubuka expressed concern that the astronomical price of rice had made it unaffordable in many homes. "Rice is a staple food in many families in Nigeria. ``It is children's favourite, but the commodity has become unaffordable because of its astronomical price," he said. He traced the scarcity of rice to the ban on importation of the grains by the Federal Government. ...

 Farmers in South-West zone of the country have so far lost about N257.4 billion in 2016 due to army worm invasion, an expert has disclosed. Dr Folake Akinbode, the Head of Maize Improvement Programme, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday. She said that scientists in the institute discovered the problem during their survey in six states: Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun and part of Kwara. ``Some farmers even lost about 20 hectares of land to the worm invasion,’’ she said. The expert, therefore, urged the government and stakeholders to join hands to address the pest menace. ``To help the farmers, the institute distributed two maize varieties: BR9928-DMR-SR-Y (which has a level of tolerant to the pest) and LNTP-Y (which requires low fertiliser), to 500 farmers in Oyo state. ``We also organised training and educated the farmers on the control of the pes...