Nigeria must return to agriculture says ex-president Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said Nigeria had no excuse for the deplorable state of its agriculture sector. Obasanjo said this at an agriculture seminar in Abuja organised by Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with “Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities’’ as theme.

He said that researches had revealed that about 65 per cent of the country’s population were faced with “food insecurity’’. He called on Nigerians to make agriculture more attractive, saying that the country had a comparative advantage in the sector and should, therefore, not suffer food shortage. The former president expressed concern that investment in the sector could not address the food insecurity in the country. “We must all play our cards either in farming, processing, manufacturing, packaging, and we must put in our best to revamp the sector and address food insecurity in our country.’’ He said that some countries that went through the same challenges as Nigeria had all walked out of the problem , but that Nigeria’s was getting worse. “We must return to agriculture as a means to increase our food production in Nigeria. “Between 2015 and 2016, there has been no production of grains in the country to feed ourselves, no fertiliser, and there are challenges at all levels of government. “We have to reflect on how to get back to agriculture and we must get there,’’ he said.

Obasanjo challenged Nigerians to work hard to attain zero hunger level in 2025, adding that farmers should use appropriate technologies for better yields. He regretted that many farmers in the country were still using hoe and cutlass. In his address, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to diversifying the nation’s economy through agriculture. He said that ongoing efforts were expected to largely reduce importation of food items like wheat, rice, fish and sugar. Ogbeh, who was represented by Alhaji Musibau Azeez, a director in the ministry, said that government was committed to reversing the age-old trend through revitalising agriculture towards innovative re-emergence of its past glory. Earlier, founder of the NGO, Mr Godwin Ehigiamusoe, said that the importance of attainment of national food security could not be over-emphasised. He said that the challenges of food insecurity had economic and socio-political implications and that it was one of the critical indicators of national power and influence. Ehigiamusoe said that a nation which depended on food import “as we do today, remains vulnerable in politics of international economic relations’’. He said that the various initiatives, including the intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through rural finance institutions building programme, among others, must be sustained. “We need the kind of entrepreneurial spirit which swept through the banking sector in the 90s. “At LAPO, we have over the years made our strong commitment to funding of activities in the rural economy within our institutional mandate of poverty alleviation. “We have provided N20.7 billion as agricultural loans to micro and small enterprises engaged in livestock, arable and tree crops farming,’’ he said.

Reference: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/nigeria-must-return-agriculture-says-ex-president-obasanjo/ 

WAKE UP CALL.

Most times people limit their capabilities to Laziness and procrastination. With time i have learnt that until you get up and pursue your dreams the silence of your downfall becomes deafening. So far i have been able to sturdy everyone that are my mentors and from this sturdy i can with all consciousness tell you that this people in high places toil and sweat like no mans business. This is just a conscious call to everyone, think of something, it could be agriculture, arts, business, anything at all that is appealing to you as an individual. Dreams come through but without that little effort the tunnel will definitely be miles away. Treasures are beautiful but earning treasures requires that bold step. Get up and be the boss for yourself and be a role model for the younger generation. Wisdom is power and wealth SOX says so..

CONTROLLING PLANT REGENERATION SYSTEMS MAY DRIVE THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE.

The ability to self-repair damaged tissue is one of the key features that define living organisms. Plants in particular are regeneration champions, a quality that has been used for centuries in horticultural techniques such as grafting. Belgian scientists from VIB and Ghent University have now discovered a key protein complex that controls plant tissue repair. Understanding this mechanism is of great agricultural importance: crops and edible plants might be cultivated more efficiently and made more resistant to parasitic plants. The results are published in the leading journal Nature Plants.

In humans and animals, missing or damaged tissue can be replenished by stem cells. These basic, undifferentiated cells can change into more specific cell types and divide to produce new cells that replace the damaged tissue cells. Plants are characterized by a similar system, but their regenerative properties are generally much greater. While this asset has been widely used in grafting and plant tissue culture techniques, the mechanism by which cells are triggered to form new cells after injury remained largely elusive.

Agricultural breakthrough

A team led by professor Lieven De Veylder (VIB-Ghent University) uncovered a novel protein complex controlling tissue repair in plants. One dead plant cell is sufficient to send a signal to the surrounding cells, which activates the protein complex. As a result, these neighboring cells are triggered to divide in such a way that the newly produced cells can replace the dead ones.
Prof. De Veylder (VIB-Ghent University) said "There are also a lot of plants and crops that don't have such swift repair systems, such as rice, wheat, corn, bananas and onions. By fully understanding this regeneration system, we might be able to induce it in those kinds of plants, thereby increasing cultivation efficiency. The same goes for grafting, which is employed in the wine and fruit industries, among others. Our findings may help to drastically reduce graft failure rate."

Harvesting the fruits of evolution

A new ecological strategy to counter parasitic plants is another potential future application of the study's results. These organisms, accounting for approximately 1% of flowering plants, are actually grafts that are able to grow through the mechanism described by the research project. In time, scientists may be able to block the natural grafting of these parasites onto economically important crops.
Prof. De Veylder (VIB-Ghent University) said "Our findings illustrate how science can capitalize on the mechanisms of evolution. After all, nature has gradually developed solutions to nearly every biological problem. As scientists, it is our duty to get to the bottom of how these processes function and apply them to the benefit of society. As follow-up steps, we will check whether our results can be extrapolated to crops such as corn, and try to figure out the signals that activate the protein complex. By FLANDERS INTERUNIVERSITY INSTITUTE FOR BIO TECHNOLOGY

LET FARMERS BUY SEEDS WITH OLD NOTES SAYS AGRICULTURE MINISTER, FINANCE SAYS NO. (INDIA)

While allowing farmers to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans, the Finance Ministry has turned down the request of the Agriculture Ministry to permit farmers to purchase seeds using demonetised currencies of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Department of Economic Affairs cited the surge of deposits in Jan Dhan accounts to counter Agriculture’s request for allowing demonetised currencies for seed purchase. It argued that this may become a conduit to offload black money.
It said that since 16 crore Jan Dhan accounts were already active in the rural sector, these could be used by farmers to exchange currency or withdraw cash for buying seeds and fertilisers.
Mohan Singh on November 15 wrote to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking exemptions available to airlines, railways, petrol pumps and hospitals for all government-run seed agencies to sell seeds for rabi crop until November 24.

Singh’s argument was that such exemption would allow farmers to purchase certified quality seeds from public sector National Seeds Corporation (NSC) rather than fall back upon low-yielding seeds saved from their earlier produce.
This use of saved seeds, Singh wrote, would lower the national output as well as put to waste the high-yielding seeds cultivated by NSC.
Keeping in view that the Rabi target has been fixed at 638.09 lakh hectares of sown area, the Agriculture Minister requested that farmers be allowed to buy seeds worth Rs 10,000 per day using old currency notes until November 24.
As a security measure, he wrote that selling agencies such as NSC, ICAR or state agriculture departments would collect photocopies of identity cards and other details, and get them attested by farmers, if required. Another safeguard could be that no refund of money or return of seeds would be allowed for seeds purchased through old currency notes, he added.
The country is at the commencement of Rabi sowing season and the best time to sow wheat crop is starting November until December 10 after which both quality and yield get affected. Until November 11, India had sown Rabi crop over 146.85 lakh hectares which is 23 per cent of the national target for this year. BY AMITAV RANJAN.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SCARCITY AT HEART OF CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION.

16 November 2016, Marrakech, Morocco-The world must rapidly move to scale up actions and ambitions on climate change FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told delegates at the United Nations Climate Change conference (COP22) in Morocco today.
Speaking at the high-level action day on agriculture and food security, Graziano da Silva noted that climate change impacts on agriculture - including crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries, land and water - are already undermining global efforts to assure food security and nutrition.
And the rural poor are the most affected.
With over 90 percent of countries referring to the important role of agriculture in their national plans to adapt to and mitigate climate change, Graziano da Silva stressed that
"it is time to invest in sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture as a fundamental part of the climate solution."
Last year's conference in Paris led to the world's first legally binding global climate deal. The current summit in Marrakech, Morocco is geared to implementation of the pledges all signatory countries made. Echoing the prevalent spirit at the COP, the Paris Agreement is irreversible and inaction would be a disaster for the world.
Transforming agriculture - maximizing benefits
Although agriculture contributes to nearly 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, it is a fundamental part of the solution to boost resilience and combat climate change impacts - especially in developing countries where agriculture is often the backbone of the economy.
Boosting agriculture can reduce malnutrition and poverty, create economic opportunities, and generate faster, fairer growth especially for young people.
Sustainable agriculture also improves the management of natural resources such as water; conserves biodiversity and ecosystem services; and increases carbon sequestration while easing the pressures that drive deforestation.
"We have to transform agriculture to make it more productive and  more resilient at the same time. This transformation will help to address, at the same time, the triple threat of hunger, poverty and climate change," FAO's Director-General said.  "Countries are recognizing this potential with unprecedented commitments."
Scaling up international flows of climate finance and unlocking additional investment in adaptation in agricultural sectors is needed to give traction to the action, he added.
A concerted push to put agriculture at the center of climate action
Featuring agriculture-focused initiatives, today's special event co-organized by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture of Morocco, is part of the Global Climate Action Agenda, led by the COP22 Climate Champions, Laurence Tubiana (France) and Hakima El Haité (Morocco), and aimed at joining and accelerating efforts by the public and private sectors to meet international climate goals.
In a bid to tackle the impact of global water scarcity, today FAO launched the Global Framework for Action to Cope with Water Scarcity in Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change.
Water scarcity - already a major global issue - will intensify with climate change and  pressures linked to population growth. From California to China's eastern provinces and from Jordan to the southern tip of Africa, an estimated four billion people - almost two-thirds of the global population - live with severe water shortages for at least some of the time.
Water scarcity "is one of the main challenges for sustainable agriculture," Graziano da Silva said. "I invite countries and partners to join this initiative."
At another high-profile side event, he hailed the timely launch of the Initiative in Favor for the Adaptation of African Agriculture, which is the Kingdom of Morocco's flagship programme and has been endorsed by 27 countries so far.
The so-called Triple A "will drive action in precisely the areas we need to transform the agriculture sectors" - sustainable land and soil management, better water management and comprehensive climate risk management - and FAO will collaborate strongly to scale up the initiative.
That will require larger climate finance flows for adaptation, and for agriculture in particure, he said, noting that currently only two percent of climate finance is being directed at the agriculture sector. "That is extremely low, and quite below our needs," he said.
Cost of inaction far outweighs action
The world has signed up to the ambitious aims of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Agreement to fight hunger, poverty and climate change.
"For millions of people, our actions can make a difference between poverty and prosperity, and between hunger and food security," FAO's Director-General said. BY FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS.