Agriculture with Jimoh

‎Mrs Mary Afan, National President, Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON), has called for 10 per cent budgetary allocation to the country’s agricultural sector, as stipulated in the Malabo Declaration. Afan told newsmen in Abuja on Monday that the upward review of budgetary allocation to agriculture would encourage more women and youths to embrace agriculture and boost food production. The Maputo Declaration states that African nations should commit at least 10 per cent of their annual budgets to finance the agricultural sector. The declaration was made at the Second Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in July 2003 in Maputo. The goals of the declaration, which was a formal commitment by AU Heads of States and Governments, include ending hunger on the continent and tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods, among others. Afan stressed that the level of funding of the country’s agricultural sector was still very low, compar...

Mr James Anbua, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Benue, on Monday debunked the rumours making the rounds that Gov. Samuel Ortom is rearing snakes. Anbua told newsmen in Makurdi that “no single snake farm exists in the state, let alone being owned by the governor ”. He said that some unscrupulous persons were linking the governor to the foreign snakes imported into the country and intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service in Calabar. The commissioner said that anything associated with snake was considered to be evil by the people of the state. Anbua said that no Benue indigene would contemplate owning a snake farm in the state. “Ortom does not rear snakes. He does not have a snake farm. “What he rears are snails, grass cutters, cattle of different species, among other domestic animals,’’ he said. He said that the Ortom’s administration had led a revolution in agriculture with numerous initiatives to make the state embody th...

Nigerian farmers have adopted 57 new farming technologies under the FADAMA 111 programme, Dr Adetunji Oredipe of the World Bank has said. Oredipe, the World Bank FADAMA Team Leader, who made this known in an interview on Monday in Abuja, said the technologies were adopted by 30,300 farmers across the FADAMA 111 implementing states, adding that the beneficiaries were made up of 23,153 males and 7,143 females. Oredipe said that the North Central embraced the highest number of 18 new technologies, while South West had two. “Some of the new technologies include waste to wealth, liquid organic manure preparation and usage as well as solar powered board scare and dryers. “A total of 40,062 farmers also received extension services from the Agricultural Development Prorammes (ADPs) and the North West region had the highest number of 16,640 and the North East with the lowest of 3,630,’’ he said. The team leader, who commended the Federal Government for the proper ...

The Chairman of the Shanghai Golden Monkey Group, Mr Qisan Zhao has disclosed that his company was ready to invest N10billion into the economy of Osun state through cocoa processing and production. Zhao stated this weekend, just as Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the state inaugurated a five-man board for SKYRUN Cocoa Processing Industry, Ede. According to Zhao, the company would have the capacity to provide 1,000 jobs for the unemployed youths in the state in the next two years, explaining that the investment was part of efforts to take the company to an enviable position ever known in history. Zhao said the decision to partner with Osun state government came on the heels of the need to properly harness the state's potentials in cocoa production and other agricultural produce. He maintained that the company has seen a realistic prospect in the economic fortunes of the state, a knowledge which according to him will be profitably maximised through the par...

Adamawa Government has vaccinated over 20,000 livestock against contagious diseases across the state. Alhaji Isa Barima, state commissioner for Livestock production, stated this on Sunday at the ongoing pilot workshop on improved and modern feed for cattle in Yola. The workshop was organised by the Nigerian Incentives Based Risk Sharing Systems For Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) for livestock farmers across the country. 50 farmers from Adamawa, Bauchi, Oyo, Imo, Delta and Katsina States as well as the Federal Capital Territory would be part of the pilot project. Barima said that the vaccination was aimed at protecting livestock from diseases such as black leg, malignant edema and leptospirosis (an infectious disease of humans and of horses, dogs, swine, and other animals). He said vaccination was also given against Foot and mouth disease, brucellosis (a bacterial disease caused by various Brucella species, which mainly infect cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dog...

The Cross River government said that it is partnering with the Arewa Cottons in Kaduna state to cultivate a cotton farm project in Woda, Yala Local Government Area of the state. Mr Christian Ita, Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, who disclosed this in an interview in Calabar, said that the cotton project was designed to serve as feeder to the Calabar garment factory. He added that the 2,000 hectares Cotton farm was expected produce about 30 tonnes of raw cottons for the Factory before the state carnival celebration. He said that the farm would ensure that the Calabar Garment Factory operated at optimum capacity. “The garment factory needs raw materials to be fully operational and to meet World standard as well as pressures. “So, the cotton farm would provide this required raw materials, hence the need for the partnership”.

The Chairman of the Shanghai Golden Monkey Group, Mr Qisan Zhao has disclosed that his company was ready to invest N10billion into the economy of Osun state through cocoa processing and production. Zhao stated this weekend, just as Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the state inaugurated a five-man board for SKYRUN Cocoa Processing Industry, Ede. According to Zhao, the company would have the capacity to provide 1,000 jobs for the unemployed youths in the state in the next two years, explaining that the investment was part of efforts to take the company to an enviable position ever known in history. Zhao said the decision to partner with Osun state government came on the heels of the need to properly harness the state's potentials in cocoa production and other agricultural produce. He maintained that the company has seen a realistic prospect in the economic fortunes of the state, a knowledge which according to him will be profitably maximised through the partnership...

Adamawa Government has vaccinated over 20,000 livestock against contagious diseases across the state. Alhaji Isa Barima, state commissioner for Livestock production, stated this on Sunday at the ongoing pilot workshop on improved and modern feed for cattle in Yola. The workshop was organised by the Nigerian Incentives Based Risk Sharing Systems For Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) for livestock farmers across the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 50 farmers from Adamawa, Bauchi, Oyo, Imo, Delta and Katsina States as well as the Federal Capital Territory would be part of the pilot project. Barima said that the vaccination was aimed at protecting livestock from diseases such as black leg, malignant edema and leptospirosis (an infectious disease of humans and of horses, dogs, swine, and other animals). He said vaccination was also given against Foot and mouth disease, brucellosis (a bacterial disease caused by various Brucella species, which...

The Cross River government said that it is partnering with the Arewa Cottons in Kaduna state to cultivate a cotton farm project in Woda, Yala Local Government Area of the state. Mr Christian Ita, Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar. Ita said that the cotton project was designed to serve as feeder to the Calabar garment factory. He added that the 2,000 hectares Cotton farm was expected produce about 30 tonnes of raw cottons for the Factory before the state carnival celebration. He said that the farm would ensure that the Calabar Garment Factory operated at optimum capacity. “The garment factory needs raw materials to be fully operational and to meet World standard as well as pressures. “So, the cotton farm would provide this required raw materials, hence the need for the partnership”.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) says it is supporting 10 countries, including Nigeria, to execute programmes that will involve multi-sectoral synergies to improve the nutrition status of their citizens. Mr Tanaka Osamu, JICA’s Senior Deputy Director, Rural Development Department, said this at the stakeholders’ workshop on Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa (IFNA) in Abuja on Thursday. He said that the workshop would establish a framework for collaboration with African countries in efforts to prevent malnutrition and enhance the resilience of the people through short or long-term interventions. He said that maternal under-nutrition was very high in the region due to inadequate diet during pregnancy, leading to premature delivery, low birth weight and birth defects of newborns. According to him, child stunting in the country is caused by under-nutrition in women and inadequate complementary feeding for children. Osamu said th...

Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), through its research on the Shea tree, has reduced its gestation period from between 15 and 30 years to seven years before it starts fruiting. Mrs Mobola Sagoe, 2nd Vice-President of the National Association of Shea Butter Producers in Nigeria, disclosed this on Thursday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. She described the feat as very encouraging, adding that many people could now go into cultivation of the African shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa). She also said that the government could also set up shea tree plantations in the 21 shea nut/butter producing states. She listed some of the shea nut/butter producing states as Niger, Kwara, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, Benue, Ogun and Oyo states. Sagoe, who is also a shea butter manufacturer, said Nigeria had the potential of generating over 800 million U.S. dollars from the over 700 tonnes of shea butter it produced annually if it was able to c...

PORT HARCOURT : Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has commissioned a world class fertilizer plant at Indorama, Eleme Petrochemicals limited in Eleme local government area, Rivers state, stressing that the federal government would remain committed to developing the private sector. Speaking at the ceremony yesterday, Professor Osibanjo said the plant would produce 1.5 million metric tones of Urea per annum, adding that the development was a reflection of the success of the federal government’s privatisation program. The acting President also handed a certificate to the management of the fertilizer plant formally discharging it from the mandatory five year monitoring program of the Bureau of Public enterprise, BPE. He said the federal government would continue to support the growth of the fertilizer plant, saying that it had also taken steps to encourage the needed atmosphere for the growth of private businesses. "The plant commissioned today,...

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank (AFDB) says the bank will invest $24 billion in agriculture in Africa over the next 10 years. Adesina made the disclosure at the 50th anniversary celebration of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan on Monday. The AFDB president said the bank was committed to turning agriculture into a business across Africa and to ensure that the continent fed itself within the next 10 years. Adesina said that AFDB had decided to work with IITA to help drive Africa’s agricultural sector transformation and unlock its full potentials. “At the core of this is getting technologies to millions of farmers and the bank has developed the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) together with IITA and other centres as a technology platform. “ This is to help take high yielding technologies to farmers for an African green revolution. “AFDB and the World ...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday, called for a world without hunger in Africa through deliberate investment in infrastructure, research and development. Obasanjo made the call in his keynote address during the 50th anniversary celebration of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan. According to the former president, the current population growth has made it imperative to put the context of food security on the front burner, to avoid impending famine. “From time immemorial, man’s history has been dotted with bouts of hunger and famine; attempts have been made to explain the nexus between famine and population. “Current prognosis suggests that if current trends continue, the world’s population in 2050 will be in the neighborhood of 9.7 billion. “It is in this context that food security of the world for present and future generations need to be discussed,” he said. He said that Africa needed to embark on a path ...

MAKURDI...........Benue state government has declared its quest to dominate the Federal government's agricultural produce export initiative by producing over 70 percent of all exportable farm produce from the country in the very near future. The state government maintained that as a major stakeholder in the initiative, it had already keyed into the policy through the Agricultural Revolution introduced by the Governor Samuel Ortom led administration. Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Terver Akaser who spoke yesterday against the backdrop of recent reports of large quantity of Benue yam exported to Europe and America said the development indicated that the state was already living up to its "Food Basket of the Nation" status. Akaser said, "the people of the state have embraced completely the return to farm mantra of the Samuel Ortom administration. That singular policy has turned around the fortune of our farming populace. "As we...

ABUJA- INTERNATIONAL Agricultural experts warned yesterday that famine and malnutrition looms in the country unless the federal government as a matter of urgency, puts in place, measures that would help address the problem of insecurity. The experts said that while Agricultural research ratings of countries like Brazil, India , China etc, are moving upward, that of Nigeria is sliding downward on yearly basis with attendant increased food insecurity in the land portending danger of malnutrition if not practically addressed. Speaking yesterday in Abuja during a courtesy visit to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, APC Niger North, the Director-General of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Dr Shenggen Fan who led the two-man experts said that the federal government must engage in research- driven agricultural programmes on yearly basis to the problem of malnutrition that ma envelope the country in the nex...

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday advised the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA),Ibadan, to commercialise the results of its research in order to promote universal application. Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, gave the advice at the 50th anniversary celebration of IITA in Ibadan. The acting president, who commended IITA over its initiatives, said that research was not enough if it was not marketed for universal application. “ In a society where the vast majority of farmers are small-holders and not educated, more needs to be done by making research work available for them to understand how it is used. “ You have to commercialise the result of your research and create subsidiaries as it is done in India. “ These companies can then multiply your findings and market them for larger application. “Government would provide necessary legal instrument to ena...

The Deputy Governor of Cross River, Prof. Ivara Esu, says the state government targeting to be first in cocoa production and, therefore, is taking the necessary measures boost the production of the cash crop. Esu said this on Monday at Ikom during the Tree Crops Development Cocoa Value Chain Capacity Building workshop for cocoa estate managers, farmers and agricultural officers. The workshop, Esu said, is expected to impact on management and extension delivery system for high quality and increased yield in cocoa production in the state. He said it was time the state returned to agriculture as an alternative source of income in view of the dwindling federal allocation. He, therefore, enjoined all participants to take the workshop serious for the benefit of farmers and the state. He said that the workshop, organised by the State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is aimed at improving the knowledge and skills of the participants for effective and ...

The Osun Government has promised to assist farmers in the state with all necessary agro-chemicals and farm inputs to boost their productivity. Dr Yemi Adegoke, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Osun State Produce Board, made the promise on Monday at a stakeholders’ meeting with cocoa farmers and merchants in Osogbo. He said that the produce board would place order for the supply of high-quality agro-chemicals and farm inputs, including implements, and sell them to farmers at subsidised rates to improve their production. He said that the produce board was established to increase farmers’ income via improved productivity and ensure massive food production in the state. Adegoke said that the board had been linking farmers with available markets to facilitate the sale of their produce and enable them to make more profits without any hitches. He, however, said that cocoa grading and haulage could not solely boost cocoa production, adding that t...

The Fadama lll Additional Financing Project has trained no fewer than 300 unemployed graduates in Ondo State to acquire vocational skills in agricultural enterprises. Mr Olusiji Olatunji, the state Project Coordinator, disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the programme at the Federal University of Technology (FUTA) in Akure on Monday. He said that the exercise would run for two weeks in three centres across the state. Olatunji said that the higher institutions selected for the programme were FUTA, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, and Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko. The coordinator said that the training programme was initiated by the Federal Government through the Fadama Graduate Unemployed Youth Support (Fadama GUYS) programme. “The training aims to empower unemployed young graduates in Nigeria by making them self reliant and employers of labour. “Leaving these youths unattended to will give them opportunity to dissipate th...

The Fadama III Additional Financing Project in Anambra has so far disbursed inputs worth over N193 million to 2,000 rice farmers for the 2017 wet season farming. The State Project Coordinator, Mr Chukwuka Egbueh, made this known in an interview in Onitsha on Monday. Egbueh said that the wet season rice input disbursement, which started in June, was expected to end on July 31. According to him, after that date, further implementation of input disbursement for wet season rice planting will end. The coordinator noted that the 200 production groups that had accessed the inputs cut across the eight participating local government areas of the state. They are Ayamelum, Awka North, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ihiala, Ogbaru, Orumba North and Orumba South. “Farmers under the cassava value chain are already accessing their inputs; over 1,500 cassava farmers are expected to benefit by the end of August. “No fewer than 6,000 farmers are expected to benefit f...

Dr Mustapha Gaidam, Manager, Yobe Pilot Livestock Development Programme, says the state has over eight million livestock with huge investment opportunities. Gaidam, who said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Friday, said that there were over two million herds of cattle, three million goats, 2.6 million sheep and 600, 000 camels in the state. “There is a great economic potential that could be exploited in beef and dairy products in every part of the state because every household in Yobe State is engaged in livestock farming. “These livestock deposits, when harnessed, will provide employment opportunities and boost the economy of the state,’’ he said. Gaidam said that the abundance of livestock in Yobe would provide adequate and steady supply of raw materials for any meat and dairy factory in the state. He said that the road constructed by the Yobe Government, linking Yunusari, Giedam, Yusufari, Machina and Nguru local government areas, ...

Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno on Friday distributed fertilisers and other farming inputs to 5,000 rice farmers for this cropping season. Shettima, who launched the exercise at Gongonlon Zabalmari Rice Plantation in Jere Local Government Area of the state, said that the gesture was to assist farmers and boost agricultural production. Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Muhammad Dili, said that the inputs were provided for farmers under the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP). Dili said that all farmers who registered under ABP would be provided with fertilisers, seeds, chemicals, water pumps, knapsack sprayers and funds to pay for ploughing, harrowing, harvesting as well as produce packaging and transportation. He said that the benefiting farmers were drawn from Jere, Konduga, Biu and Shani Local Government Areas. “We are starting with four local government areas, following the return of peace and improved security situatio...

The Kogi Government says it expects a massive rice production from the 3,000 hectares of rice farms across the state by December. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, said this on Friday, while inspecting one of the rice farms at Ujoh, Bassa Local Government Area. Oloruntoba said that consumer products of the rice production, executed under the FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) project, would be available in the market as from December. The 80-hectare Ujoh rice farm is part of a cluster farm, which includes Ogbah rice farm (120 hectares) and Biroko rice farm (100 hectares). The commissioner’s visit to the Ujoh farm marks that onset of his tour of all the rice farms in the state. Oloruntoba said that the massive rice production in Kogi was aimed at repositioning the state to become one of the major rice-producing states of the country. He said that a rice mill, which was capable of processing 50 tonnes of rice daily, was under ...

An Agriculturalist, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, on Friday advocated genuine commitment from stakeholders in the agriculture sector in order to achieve the desired transformation. Bogoro made the assertion in a keynote address he delivered at the 4th Convocation of Landmark University in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara. Bogoro is an Animal Scientist in the Department of Animal Production, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. He spoke on “Revolutionising Agriculture: A Catalyst for Up-Scaling Development and Transformation in Africa.’’ Bogoro said that in order to achieve a sustainable agricultural development regime, there was the need to boost agriculture budget at all three levels of government in line with global practices. According to him, such commitment is needed as a catalyst for up-scaling development and transformation of agriculture in Nigeria and other African countries, especially in an era of recession. “All stakeho...

The Acting Programme Manager of Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), Anambra, Mr Jude Nwankwo says plans are underway to commence export of rice from the state in 2018. Nwankwo disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Awka. “By the grace of God, Anambra will commence rice export after our harvest this year’’, he said. He assured that the state will produce more than 500,000 tonnes of rice in the 2017 harvest year based on projections from the field. He said that the figure would be 300, 000 higher than what was recorded in 2016. “In 2016, we projected 180, 000 metric tonnes of rice, but we surpassed it by 20, 000. In 2017 our target is to produce 500, 000 metric tonness of rice, but the information from the field indicates that the figure will even go higher again’’, he said. He said that more rice farmers were being supported by government to cultivate rice in Orumba North, Ayame­lum, Awka North, Anam­bra...