Agriculture with Jimoh

The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) said that it expected early harvest of cashew in this year as most of the trees were already flowering and ready for fruiting. The association’s Spokesperson, Mr Sotonye Anga, who disclosed this in  in Lagos, said  that this was observed after a nationwide tour of some cashew producing states including Kwara and Abia. Anga said  that most cashew trees were doing “very well’’, saying it was a sign of a bumper harvest for farmers in 2017. “We are very pleased at the moment with what we have seen of cashew trees in most states where we have cashew plantations because they are doing very well. “Most of the trees are already flowering and getting ready for fruiting, which is a good sign for 2017 harvest. “From our observation during a nationwide tour of cashew trees as far as we can see, 2017 cashew harvest for Nigeria will be early,“ Anga said. The spokesperson added  that farmers were a...

The Dangote Tomato Processing Factor in Kadawa, Kura Local Government Area of Kano State is to resume production in February. The company, which began production in Feb. 2016, had to suspend operation due to lack of enough raw materials. The Managing Director of the company, Alh. Abdulkadir Kaita, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kano. He added that preparation for production to resume was at an advanced stage. Kaita said that the company had to suspend production, when most of the tomato farms in about five states were affected by a pest, which destroyed all the tomato species. “We expect that tomato farmers would have produced enough for the company to process, hence our decision to resume production in February,’’ he said. According to him, many tomato farmers at the Kadawa, Kura, Garun-Malam and Hadeja-Jama’are irrigation sites are expected to produce enough for the company to process. “We deli...

 The Federal Government says the current hike in price of fertiliser is as a result of security concerns as criminal elements are using its components to make bombs and other explosives. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at a Special Town Hall Meeting for Youths organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture. The minister said that fertiliser being sold for N10,000 per bag was because the security agencies placed hold on its distribution. “Fertiliser came late this year due to security challenges. “We started moving fertiliser in February to meet up with the farming season but the national security agency stop us from moving it. “Over 400 trailer loads of fertilisers were held down in Lokoja for two months because Boko haram were converting urea among other fertilizer component to make bombs. “ It took two and half months to get arrangement from security agencies to escort fertilisers from the ...

The Ogun Government says it will continue to participate actively in all national and international agricultural intervention programmes to ensure food security in the state. The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, said this recently while inspecting the 185 hectares of rice and cassava intervention sites in the Yewa Local Government Area of the state. The commissioner was accompanied by a team from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) Assisted Value Development Programme. The tour took the team to Otete, Joga- Orile and Eggua, all in Yewa Council Area of Ogun. Sokefun said that in order to achieve food sufficiency in the state, the state government had continued to train farmers on agronomy and land preparation. She said that the government had brokered meetings between farmers and the private sector as major players in rice and cassava production. She commended the Federal Government and IFAD for its value-chain intervention programme in c...