Agriculture with Jimoh

To sustain the on-going youth-focused agricultural programme in Edo State, the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration says it will in the first quarter of 2018, fully roll out its agriprenuer programme after a successful pilot scheme. Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Budget, Mr. Joseph Eboigbe, who disclosed this in a chat with journalists in Benin City, Edo State capital, said that the programme is part of the state government’s plan for Micro, Small-scale and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and youth-focused agricultural initiatives. Eboigbe   said that though the government in 2017 provided cheap credit to MSMEs, in 2018, it will significantly enhance the package of incentives to the enterprises, as there is anticipated growth in the sector, which will naturally translate to jobs.   “In 2017, the state government piloted the agriprenuer scheme. By the first quota of 2018, we will roll out the programme fully. The agriprenuer programme will target about 55,000 yout

MANAGING Director of Presco Plc, Mr. Felix Nwabuko, has said, despite being a major player in the Nigeria oil palm industry, the company has not been able to meet up with the demand for palm oil and oil palm produce in the country. The company's MD made the disclosure to Vanguard during the Presco end of year/Dinner and award night for deserving staff of the company held over the weekend. Nwabuko who described 2016 as a “crazy year”, said the company was able to grapple with its challenges in 2017 with a promise to make more sustainable growth in 2018 amidst expectations from the federal and state governments in ensuring that the Nigeria agri-business would grow to the point where it would count in the country’s Gross Domestic Product. He said: “We have not been able to meet up with demands of the palm oil industry and it is based on this that we are driving certain expansion such as the increment of our refining capacity with 500 percent of what it is now as

Jos - The idea of supporting prisoners’ rehabilitation and make the Nigerian Prisons Service self sufficient has received a boost as a rice farm (Lakushi Farm Centre) operated by prisoners in Plateau State has yielded 400 bags of rice in the year. Lakushi which is one of the 17 Farms owned by the Nigerian Prisons Service is operated to enhance modern skills/training in farming techniques so as to enable the inmates learn while in detention and put the knowledge gained when they regain their freedom. According to a statement issued yesterday in Jos and signed by the State Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Luka Ayedoo, the success came because the farm was re-positioned with funding to ensure the procurement and distribution of modern farm tools and inputs. The statement reads,”The Lakushi Farm Centre of the Nigerian Prisons Service has harvested over 400 bags of rice in 2017. The farm is one of the 17 Prisons farms in Nigeria and major in rice production be

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has been granted a permit to carry out Confined Field Trials (CFT) of genetically modified cassava (AMY3 RNAi Transgenic lines). This is contained in a statement signed by IITA Head of Communication, Mrs Catherine Lopez, and made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ibadan. The statement said that the research, carried out in collaboration with ETHZ Plant Biotechnology Lab in Zurich, was aimed at reducing starch breakdown in storage roots of cassava after pruning the shoots, prior to harvest of the crop. It also said that the objective was to obtain storage roots with lower post-harvest physiological degradation, without any loss of the nutritious starch. It noted that cassava was an important starchy food crop in sub-Saharan Africa as well as other tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The statement said that one of the challenges facing cassava farmers in the country was the high lev

To provide guarantee for agribusiness investments in the state, the Edo State Government has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to set up a N500 million Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS). Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, revealed this at the inauguration of the committee to oversee the scheme at the Government House in Benin City, Edo State capital. The scheme is intended to de-risk investments in agriculture in Edo State. The governor said the programme, which was set up by the Federal Government through the CBN, is to provide credit for agricultural transactions in the state, stressing that the programme is very critical to his administration’s agricultural initiatives. He added that the state government was not interested in agribusiness to start farms, but only interested in de-risking the process and creating the enabling environment for entrepreneurs to emerge and thrive. The members of the nine-man committee headed

Dangote's contribution to the world this year revolves around his dynamic attention to lessen food imports into his own country and Africa's largest nation, Nigeria NEW YORK, United States of America, December 5, 2017/ -- Aliko Dangote was honored last night at the Bloomberg 50 annual gala dinner at New York's iconic Gotham Hall. Bloomberg's list of 50 most influential names who have had an impact on the world in 2017 included Dangote, Africa's richest person, for his outstanding commitment of over $4B USD to increase Nigeria's food production capacity. Represented in New York by the CEO of his Foundation, Dangote was joined by electric car visionary Elon Musk; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmon; Beatrice Fihn, anti-nuclear weapons advocate and Nobel Peace Laureate; Amazon's Jeff Bezos; Robert Mueller, special counsel investigating Donald Trump's potential collusion with Russia; and Vitalik Buterin, whose invention of the cryptocurr