Agriculture with Jimoh

By Deji Abdulwahab  Nigeria realised N212.73 billion from agricultural product exports at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016. The was disclosed in excerpts of a book entitled: ‘‘Making steady, sustainable progress for Nigeria’s peace and prosperity: a mid-term scorecard on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration,’’ It was authored by the Presidential Media Team. The book, which will be presented to the public on Nov. 16 in Abuja, was sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). “At the end of 2016, agricultural goods, as share of total trade, got N212.73 billion and 4.02 per cent. “Agricultural goods’ exports were 2.7 per cent higher in the fourth quarter of 2016 than third quarter of the year.’’ It stated that the products, which contributed most to agricultural product exports in the fourth quarter, were sesame seeds with N6.46 billion, frozen shrimps and prawns with N4.4 billion. According to the report, flour and meals of soya...

The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has assured the people of Ovia South West Local Government Area of the state that the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi and Edo State Polytechnic Usen, will be revamped to enable it produce employable graduates. Obaseki gave the assurance at Ovia South West Local Government Council during the last leg of his thank-you-tour of the 18 Local Government Areas to appreciate party members for their votes and support. He said the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi, was closed earlier because it was not worthy of being a school of agriculture due to its poor standard. "I shut down the school to enable me invest money and bring it up to standard. I will revamp the school so that the graduates will be employable." He said he is in talks with Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) and PRESCO Plc., to join hands with his administration to revamp the school, help train stu...

The Nigeria Agric Business Group (NABG) on Thursday said it would provide improved tomato seedlings to tomato farmers to boost their production nationwide. The Vice President of the group, Mr Emmanuel Ejiwere, made the promise in Kaduna during a courtesy visit to the State Governor, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai. He said the group was interested in finding workable solution to the issues of tomato production in the country Ejiwere said that his group would also ensure that processors had regular source of supply, while consumers would purchase at an affordable price. He said that even in Kaduna, which is the largest producer of tomato in the country, farmers used only one per cent of improved seedlings, thereby making production low. Ejiwere said that his group was in Kaduna to bring together experts in tomato production who had written reports on various challenges and possible solutions to improve the sector. According to him, “these experts include differe...

Brass Fertilizer Plant in Bayelsa to generate 20,000 jobs ...Dickson grants 2 years waiver, ‎other incentives‎ YENAGOA THE Executive Vice Chairman of the Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company Ltd, Chief Ben Okoye says, the $3.6 billion fertilizer plant project is expected to generate 15,000 jobs during the construction phase of the project and 5,000 permanent employment opportunities, when completed. Chief Okoye announced this, yesterday while receiving the Certificate of Occupancy, (C of O) for the land allocated for the construction of the plant at the Brass Island, in Brass Local Government Area of the state from Governor Seriake Dickson in Government House, Yenagoa. A Government House statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa Governor, Francis Agbo, noted that the Executive Vice Chairman, who highlighted the components of the fertilizer plant, explained that, it would accommodate a Methanol, Urea Ammonia, Gas Processing Plants as well as...

My father did not want me in agriculture because he was a poor farmer--- AfDB President, Adesina When he was ushered into the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, last week, for the conferment of the 2017 World Food Prize award , Dr. Akinwumi Adesina received a standing ovation from international leaders, policy makers, farmers, executives from agribusiness , non-governmental organisations, and scientific. The award was an endorsement of his roles over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria. Dr. Adesina, , now the President of the African Development Bank, has been at the forefront of galvanizing political will to transform African agriculture through initiatives to expand agricultural production, thwart corruption in the Nigerian fertilizer industry and exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent. T...

 Yam exporters call for reduction of agencies at port terminals …as FG promises to tackle challenges soon ABUJA- SOME yam exporters have called on the federal government to reduce agencies at port terminals that make export of the commodity difficult to other parts of the world. According to them at a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at the weekend, the operation of these multiple agencies poses threat to the policy of the government of exporting Nigerian yams to the United States of America, USA, and United Kingdom, UK, following the unnecessary money spent on documents that are not relevant and time wasted to ship the commodity. In his remarks the Chairman Technical Committee on Yam, Prof Simon Irtwange, said the major agencies that has to do with yam export basically remains the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service, NAQS, and Nigerian Customs Service According to Irtwange in the US those at the ports were man...

ABUJA- THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at the weekend disclosed that Nigerian Agricultural trade has hit N261. 92 billion in second quarter of 2017, which represents 4.60 per cent. Ogbeh made the disclosure at the launch of Nigeria Agribusiness Resource Centre, NARC, in Abuja, for agricultural investment and sponsored by Africa Lead. The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Buka Hassan, said agricultural export from the country was 0.9 per cent out of the total exports in second quarter of 2017. According to him destinations of exports in the second quarter include Asia- 66.38 per cent, Europe -24.98 per cent, Americas- 4.37 per cent, Africa -3.88 per cent and the Oceania- 0.39 per cent. Agricultural commodities exported were cashew nuts, which worth N13.5 billion representing 45.4 per cent of the total agriculture exports and 1.37 per cent of total exports. "Cashew nut export to Vietnam wa...