Agriculture with Jimoh

Jigawa Government on Tuesday announced plans to distribute ultra-modern mini rice mills, harvesters and other implements to boost rice production in the state. Alhaji Jamilu Usaman-Danmalam, Special Adviser to the state governor on Rice Production and Value Chain said the implements would be distributed to youths under the government cluster farming scheme. The special adviser said in an interview on Tuesday in Dutse, that the items would be issued to the young farmers on loan. He listed the farming implements to include 100 mini rice milling machines, 100 single row planters, 100 double row planters, 100 mini thrashers, 300 handheld harvesters and 574 manual sprayers. “The government has concluded all arrangements for this exercise and all the items are on ground. “We are done with compiling the names of the beneficiaries and we will soon call them for distribution. “This is part of our plans to empower and encourage youths to go into farming. ...

Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), in collaboration with the Embassy of the Peoples’ Republic of China, has sensitised market men and women to mycotoxin contamination of agricultural and food commodities. A report signed by Dr Chigozie Nwodo, Head of Press and Media in NAQS, in Abuja on Monday said that the awareness activity took place in Kano, Benue and the FCT between May and June this year. Mycotoxins are produced by moulds or fungi growing on agricultural commodities and allied products under some favourable environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. Mycotoxins can be found in nuts, cereals, Oilseeds, tubers, seafood, spices, fruits, livestock and poultry, agro-allied products. When humans are exposed to mycotoxin, it consequently contaminates their urine, blood, semen, breast milk, serum, among others. Dr Vincent Isegbe, the Coordinating Director of NAQS, said that that the objectives of the workshop were to educate, infor...

....Maritime sector key to Nigeria's economic revival says Dogara. ....Pledges Commitment to Passing Suppression of Piracy and other unlawful Acts at Sea Bill The Speaker of the House of Representatives , Hon Yakubu Dogara, has expressed dismay that Illegal Unreported and Unregulated ( IUU ) fishing leads to an annual loss of over 1.3 billion dollars in West Africa alone. This is just as he pledged the commitment of the National Assembly to continue to be active in passing legislations that will make Nigeria's seas and waterways safer for exploration and exploitation of its natural resources for the benefit of Nigerians. Speaking while delivering a goodwill message at the annual conference of the Association of African Maritime Administrators in Abuja, the Speaker said, "Statistics has it that Illegal Unreported and Unregulated ( IUU ) fishing leads to a loss of over 1.3 billion dollars in West Africa alone, yearly. "We must tighten the legal ...

In addition, more than 70 bags of shark carcasses were found on one of the Chinese vessels FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, April 20, 2017/ -- Four illegal fishing cases have been found during a joint surveillance mission conducted by Greenpeace (www.Greenpeace.org/Africa/en) and Sierra Leone fishery authorities. Two Chinese vessels and one Korean vessel have been arrested for infringements of Sierra Leone fishing legislation, including possessing or using illegal fishing nets on board, no visible marking and a lack of required paperwork, including log books and authorisation for unloading catch. Fishing authorities ordered the vessels to return to Freetown port for further investigation. A fourth vessel, owned by an Italian company, was found with four kilograms of shark fins on board. Though not illegal under Sierra Leonean laws, this is a clear violation of European Union (EU) fishing rules. This boat’s case will be taken further with relevant EU authorities. In addition, more tha...

The Federal Government and state governments have called on China-Africa Machinery Corporation (CAMACO) to slash its interest rate on its proposed 4.5-billion-dollar farm mechanisation loan to one per cent. The governments made the request on Thursday during a meeting of the Technical Implementation Committee of CAMACO with state Commissioners of Agriculture in Abuja. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was sequel to the 2016 meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Chinese President Jinping in China, where Jinping promised to grant Nigeria a loan for infrastructural development. The loan is to enable China to supply farm machinery, ranging from tractors and bulldozers, to facilitate mechanised farming in the country. Dr Bukar Hassan, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the reduction of the interest rate would encourage state governments to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), prior to the supp...