Agriculture with Jimoh

The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had recorded tremendous achievements in agriculture. He disclosed in Abuja that the feats of the party in agriculture were, however, not adequately reported. He berated some media houses for always making headlines with negative stories while ignoring such success stories. The President of the Senate noted that in the area of rice farming and processing, Nigeria under the APC government, had risen to a point where it would soon be completely self sufficient. “You can see what the APC government is doing in agriculture but this is something we don’t talk about, the success that the APC government has made is tremendous. “Am sure in a few years time we will be self sufficient in rice and that is a major achievement for a country that is always importing rice to now get to the stage where we no longer have to import rice. “But how often do y...

The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria says it has secured approval for the release of three new high-yielding nutrient maize varieties for planting in Nigeria. The Institute made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos. The institute said the approval was granted by the National Varietal Release Committee at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Ibadan. It said that the maize was developed by IAR in collaboration with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan. The institute said that the maize varieties tagged: SAMMAZ 52, SAMMAZ 53 and SAMMAZ 54 were offshoots of extensive “on-station, multi-locational and on-farm’’ evaluations with strong farmer participation. It said that the varieties were desirable to many maize farmers, seed companies, and food processing entrepreneurs, agro-allied industries as well as ...

The Gombe State Agricultural Development Project (ADP) says that the tomato pest, Tuta Absoluta, has seriously affected tomato harvests in three of the state’s 11 local government areas. Mr Abba Dreba, the Pest Control Officer of the ADP, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Wednesday that the affected local governments were Akko, Kwami and Yamltu-Deba. “The tomato pest started ravaging tomato farms since last year but the ADP was not aware of this until this year; this is because tomato farmers in the affected local government areas were ignorant of the pest. “However, when we received the report, we went round the entire local governments of Gombe and discovered that only Akko, Kwami and Yamltu-Deba local government areas were affected. “The entire tomato farms in the three areas were devastated. This is a very serious problem because the pest is resistant to all the available chemicals and insecticides in the market,’’ he said. According to him...

The Third National Fadama Development Project in Jos on Monday began a four-day training workshop for its staff across five states on the commercial approach to agriculture. The training, which was organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Agriculture Enterprise Curriculum, has ‘‘Commercial Approach to Agricultural Subsistence Practice’’ as its theme. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop drew participants from Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Benue, Plateau and the FCT. In his opening remarks, Mr Gideon Dandam, the Coordinator of Fadama III project in Plateau, said that the rationale behind the training was to encourage farmers to embrace commercial agriculture so as to boost food production. He said that the training would also create an avenue for farmers to know where and when to market their produce after harvests, with a view to making more profit. “This training is focusing on two major issues; first, to make farming known to farmers as a business and s...

The National Biosafety Management Agency says it will partner with the media to strengthen awareness campaign on the importance, handling and use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the country. Dr Rufus Ebegba, the Director-General of the agency made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja. He said efforts had been made through the media to sensitise the public to the responsibility of the agency in ensuring an adequate level of protection, conservation and use of biological diversity. “We have also taken into account the risk of human health in the application of modern biotechnology. “The agency’s responsibility is for the safety of Nigerians. However, in the course of discharging our duties, there have been some reactions which may not be unusual because this is a very new thing. “But some of the outcry in some sectors, as I would always explain, is borne out of misinformation and misconception. ...

Mr Luka Kefas, Director of Technical Services, Plateau Agricultural and Development Programme (PADP), on Tuesday decried the paucity of agricultural extension workers in the state. Kefas said this when Mrs Ngizan Chahul, National President, Nigerian Association of Women in Agriculture (NAWIA), visited him in Jos. He said that the shortage of agricultural extension workers had posed a serious challenge to the fulfilment of agricultural activities in the state. “One of the greatest challenge facing agricultural activities on the Plateau is the inadequacy of extension workers. “Agricultural activities cannot thrive without the input of this category of experts because they are the engine room of the agricultural sector. “They educate farmers in the urban and rural areas on the new trends in agriculture. “According to the Work Bank standard, one extension worker is supposed to handle 800 farmers but in our own case here, it is one extension officer to 7,000 farmers. ...

Dangote Rice, a subsidiary of Dangote Group is set to launch a 25,000 hectares of rice outgrower scheme with a prospect of creating employment opportunities for rural communities in Sokoto. A statement issued by Mr Francis Awowole-Browne, the Head of Media, Dangote Rice, said President of the Group, Aliko Dangote would on Wednesday inaugurate the pilot project of 500 hectres at Gonroyo Dam, in Goronyo community. Awowole said that the inauguration which would be performed by Governor Aminu Tambuwa would witness seedlings being distributed to both primary local farmers. According to him, the company plans to purchase harvested rice from the farmers under the Outgrower’s programme for milling and final processing at Dangote Rice mills. The head of media noted that through the Dangote Rice Outgrower Scheme, the company would partner with smallholder rice farmers to cultivate and grow rice paddy. “ The company will provide inputs, technical assistance, extension services and...

The Kano State Government has earmarked over N200 million in the recently approved 2017 budget to boost rice farming in the state. Mohammed Garba, the Commissioner of Information, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kano. He said this was part of the state government’s efforts to boost the agricultural sector in the state to complement President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to reduce over dependence on crude oil. “Rice and wheat farmers were given N150 million loan in 2016 to boost production in the Sector, while in 2017 we are planning to increase the loan. “All necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the ordinary farmers in the state benefit more from the gesture,” the commissioner said. Garba said that in 2016, the state government contributed to the production of 1.3 million tonnes of rice, saying that it hopes to increase it to over 2 million tonnes in 2017. He said, “the state government has c...

Bird flu claims 3.5 million birds in 26 states, FCT- FG ... Summons State agric commissioners ABUJA- THE Federal Government yesterday, disclosed that bird flu has claimed 3.5 million birds in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, so far. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made the disclosure in his address of welcome during a consultative meeting with commissioners of Agriculture/Livestock, state directors of veterinary services and major stakeholders in the poultry industry in Abuja. Ogbeh who described the situation as threat to the poultry industry and said losses in the industry unacceptable as he personally feels the pain of affected farmers. He said: “Our meeting today is necessary in order to restore the poultry industry to its past glory as a major source of livelihood of our people, diversify the economy and avert food security crisis and possible spill over to humans. “You may recall that the first outbreak of bir...

Cross River Government lost over N130 million revenue in 2016 due to allocation of cocoa farms to ghost farmers, Mr Oscar Ofuka, Special Adviser to Gov. Ben Ayade on Cocoa Development, has said. Ofuka made the disclosure on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar. He said the governor had consequently directed a total review of allocations done by the Cocoa Allocation Committee to ensure that genuine farmers were given allocation. “The governor has directed me to review the allocations with a view to ensuring that the right farmers are given Cocoa farmlands. “But, the implication of this shoddy exercise is that the state has lost over N130 million from the projected revenue from cocoa allocation in 2016. “The projected revenue was N200 million, supposed to be generated from payments for allocation fees by farmers. “But, only N68 million was realised. This is a huge set back to the government’s revenue drive. “Al...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) office in Gombe State has trained 150 agricultural extension workers, Malam Muhammad Umar, the Permanent Secretary, SDGs Gombe, said. Umar told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Thursday that the trainees were graduates with diploma in Agriculture. He said they were deployed to rural communities across the state to assist farmers. The permanent secretary added that the training was part of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) project of 2015 which was not executed. According to him, the office still has some 2016 MDGs projects not executed but is trying to do them and round up before the commencement of SDG projects. He explained that the office initially wanted to train the agriculture graduates in fish farming “but because of shortage of extension workers in the state, we changed the plan. “We were made to understand that Gombe was in dire need of agricultural extension workers, hence the need to t...