Bauchi Targets 200 Percent Increased Yields Through Mechanised Farming

A memorandum of understanding between the Bauchi state government and the government of the Czech Republic is being concluded to provide the state with cheaper agricultural equipment in an effort to make agriculture attractive and transform it to an alternative source of revenue and better employer of labour that gives greater yield than the traditional agricultural method.

Governor of Bauchi state Mohammed Abubakar who stated this at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Airport, Abuja shortly after returning from the Czech Republic, said the delegation he led to the Czech Republic from Bauchi state was in that country on the invitation of the minister of agriculture and the deputy minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic.

According to a press release signed by the Press Secretary to the governor, Abubakar Al-Sadique, which was made available to THISDAY Weekend, the governor stressed that for agriculture which is one of the major employers of labour in Nigeria to provide the alternative source of revenue the country desperately needs, farming must be “practiced in the scientific way”, where mechanisation will replace traditional methods.

Abubakar lamented that farmers in Bauchi state like other Nigerian farmers rely on traditional farming which consumes lots of human energy and resources but yields far less to the farmers.

“Because we now need to test the soil to determine its suitability for the cultivation of the crops we intend to cultivate to increase our yield per hectre, we must embrace the developments and innovations being brought to agriculture that come with researches in science and technology, which the Czech Republic so seriously engages in. The yield per hectre for maize, for example, in the Czech Republic is about 40 tones while in Nigeria the highest is unfortunately about 5 tones”, the governor whose delegation was taken round modern farms to see how modern agriculture is practiced in the Czech Republic, he said.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the Czech Republic is to support the agricultural sector in the state by providing especially small scale farmers with multi-purpose mini tractors and other farming implements at low costs that Bauchi farmers can easily afford.

At the inception of his administration, Abubakar visited the Czech Republic and thereafter a trade delegation from that country also visited Nigeria during which time he had a meeting with the delegation on investment potentials of the state in the areas of agriculture and tourism.

It was the result of that meeting which informed the agriculture minister and the deputy minister of foreign affairs’ specific invitation of Bauchi state to see how the Czech Republic can help the state boost its agriculture through science and technology and use of modern agricultural implements produced in that country.

Because of the interest the authorities in the Czech Republic have in investing in agricultural development of Bauchi state, accommodation and other logistics were provided to Governor Mohammed Abubakar and members of his delegation.

Researchers Alarmed Over Threat to Nigeria’s Cassava Industry

Nigeria’s rising population, particularly in the cities, coupled with low productivity (yield per hectare) of cassava roots is threatening her cassava industry and could impede the gains made in the sector, putting the country at risk of becoming a net importer of staple crops.

Grown by over 4.5 million people in Nigeria, cassava is a major food crop, contributing to food security and income for millions of people but the productivity of the crop in Nigeria is low–12-13 tons per ha.

“This low productivity cannot support Nigeria in the next 34 years,” according to Dr Claude Fauquet, Director with the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP 21) while addressing participants at the just concluded workshop with the theme: “Integrated System for an Effective Cassava Production in Africa,” in IITA, Ibadan last month.

“By 2050, Nigeria’s population will rise to 400 million, meaning that we will have more mouths to eat cassava and cassava products such as gari, fufu etc. With the current cassava productivity of 12-13 tons per hectare, cassava cannot sustain this huge population,” Fauquet explained.

Elsewhere in Asia, cassava productivity has hit more than 20 tons per ha and a nation such as Thailand is today a major exporter of cassava products such as starch.

Fauquet said Africa, and Nigeria in particular, has the land, youth and climate to achieve the same feat such as Thailand. “The question is: Why is this not happening?” he remarked.

Besides the rising population, Fauquet noted that urbanisation would trigger the migration of more than 50 percent of Nigeria’s population to cities which would leave a labour vacuum in the rural areas – a situation that would further exacerbate the problem of cassava production in the country.

He however said Nigeria could address the challenges by investing in the research for development of cassava along the value chain. Specifically, he said, investments in improved varieties, weed control, best agronomic practices, and mechanization could change the outlook of cassava. “Other areas that need attention include access to credit, markets and cooperatives,” he added.

Fauquet called on the Nigerian government and donors to invest in research and development to put cassava ahead.

IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships For Delivery, Dr. Kenton Dashiell, who represented the Director General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, said cassava is an important crop for Nigeria and it was important that researchers were thinking about its future.

He commended the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for investing in cassava production along the value chain, and called on the government of Nigeria to consider upscaling some of the proven technologies such as cassava mechanization, weed management, improved seeds at IITA, and best agronomic practices to farmers across the country.

Project Leader for the Cassava Weed Management Project, Dr. Alfred Dixon described cassava as a “poverty fighter,” emphasising that investment in cassava would help Nigeria to tackle the twin problem of hunger and poverty, and youth unemployment.

The workshop in Ibadan attracted participants from the private sector, development partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IFAD, and farmer organisations.

Ebonyi High Producer of Rice

The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh has described Ebonyi farmers as the real heroes of President Muhammadu Buhari’s push to diversify the nation’s economy, especially through agriculture in rice production.

The minister also promised that the federal government would rehabilitate the Ettem Amagu Ikwo Dam to encourage dry season rice cultivation in the state.

He explained that under Operation 1,037 of the federal government, a minimum of 10 dams per state and the FCT would be built.

Ogbeh, who was accompanied by the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Rice production, Abubakar Bagudu and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele, commended Umahi for his agricultural policy, particularly in ensuring massive rice production in the state.

The minister called on youths to key into agriculture to diversify the economy and see it as a way out of the present economic recession in the country. He promised to bring agricultural equipment like rice harvesters, threshers, par- boiling drums to Ebonyi State.

“Next year, we shall plant for you 1,500 hectares of cashew nuts; five hundred hectares per the three senatorial districts in your state. We shall also build you two factories here for roasting cashew. By the middle of last week, I had some machines ready for you (Ebonyi State)".

These include threshers and even new par-boiling drums which operate differently from what women are using. When those machines come, youngmen will be thought how to enter a farm and harvest rice for farmers. These young men and farmers will make so much money to the extent that they will become millionaires in the villages. So wealth is here (in farming)”, Ogbeh said.

He also promised that the federal government would rehabilitate the Ettem Amagu Ikwo Dam to encourage dry season rice cultivation in the state, even as he explained that under Operation 1,037 of the federal government, a minimum of 10 dams per state and the FCT would be built.

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Rice production and governor of Kebbi State, Bagudu, said what he saw in rice producing states showed that the country had achieved self sufficiency in rice production and should therefore commence plan for rice export. “Success recorded in the last one year is phenomenal. What we have seen, in terms of rice output seems to suggest that the goal of self sufficiency which we hitherto thought will be achieved in 2017, might have already been achieved,” he stated.

Emefiele, in his remark explained that the apex bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme would commence next year to boost farming and tackle challenges confronting farmers.

Emefiele also pledged the bank’s readiness to participate in the clearing and re-dredging of the Ettem Amagu Dam.

Governor Umahi had while welcoming them in the state, commended President Buhari for reviving agriculture in the country.

He expressed the readiness of the state government to partner the federal government in all season farming. He said, “There are over 30 dams in this state. They are recharged by very near streams. So we want assistance from the Federal Government in the area of irrigation.

We want assistance in the area of money to the farmers. We want assistance in the area of biomass plants. The cost of buying diesel and maintenance is too high; we also need harvesters to assist our farmers.”

The team also visited the state’s modern rice mills in Oso-Edda and Ikwo where they saw live processed rice rolling out of the machines.

Investors commit $4.5bn to Fertiliser Production

Investments in the production of fertiliser in Nigeria by foreign and indigenous investors in the last two years have grown to about $4.5bn (N1.373tn) despite the constraint in accessing the United States dollars, the African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnerships has said.

The AFAP, an independent non-profit organisation created by a partnership of African development agencies, disclosed this at the Nigeria Fertiliser Roadmap Stakeholders’ Consultation in Abuja on Monday.

The four-day forum, which ended on Monday, had in attendance senior officials of the Presidency, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deposit Money Banks, microfinance banks, multinational fertiliser production companies and international finance organisations, among others.

In his welcome address, which was made available to our correspondent, the President/Chief Executive Officer, AFAP, Mr. Jason Scarpone, described the growth in the fertiliser sub-sector of Nigeria’s agricultural value chain as an economic potential that had the capacity to reduce importation of food by the country.

Although he noted that fertiliser utilisation in Nigeria was still inadequate and significantly lower than what was obtainable in Kenya, the AFAP boss, however, stated that “in the midst of these challenges lies opportunities.

He added, “For despite the fall in oil prices, declining foreign exchange reserves and constrained availability of foreign currency in the last two to three years, the fertiliser sub-sector in Nigeria has attracted significant investments of about $4.5bn from the private sector.

“Notable among these investors include but not limited to Notore, Indorama and Dangote. Their respective investments have been the largest ever in the Nigerian agriculture sector.”

Scarpone noted that investments in the agricultural sector in the country remained a beacon of hope for the transformation of millions of rural communities and in stimulating broader economic growth.

“It is against the above background that, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, AFAP commissioned a study of the impediments that constrain fertiliser market development in Nigeria with a view to developing strategies to address such constraints,” he added.

AFAP Consultant, Scott Wallace, told journalists that aside reviewing fertiliser impediments identified by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, another objective of the meeting was “to solicit inputs from public and private stakeholders as means towards possible solutions to attend to the impediments.”

Nigeria to Get GM Beans in Commercial Quantity By 2019 – NABDA

The National Biotechnology Development Agency has said genetically modified beans will be available in commercial quantity across Nigerian markets by 2019.

There has been outcry against the genetically modified organisms across the world. The anti-GMO activists say the GM crops and animals would be injurious to human health. But GMO advocates are disputing this, saying it will only ensure food security.

But at the November edition of Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Abuja, the NABDA Director General, Prof Lucy Ogbadu, said Nigeria would soon witness abundant beans as the GM cowpeas (or beans) would be released into the market in large quantities in two or three years’ time.

He said cowpea, which is currently undergoing field trials, wouldn’t pose health risk to Nigerians.

“Rules are being followed in its production. Our Ethical Committee is working day and night to ensure that no rule is breached. Nigerians should be rest assured that the GM beans and other crops which will be available later in the country would be safe for consumption. In 2-3 years’ time, cowpea should be ready in commercial quantity in the country”, Prof Ogbadu said.

She dismissed “the insinuation” that GM foods are unhealthy; saying over 100 Nobel Laureates had signed a petition to guarantee its safety.

On the alleged production of plastic rice, the NABDA boss said there was no reason why that could be possible.

“We do not believe in the story of plastic rice production. One, producing rice from plastic would be very, very expensive and no business man would venture into it. Two, I have gone around and around and did not see any plastic rice in the markets or anywhere else. All the rice I saw did not look plastic.

“Some people, I believe, are only trying to scare away consumers of rice from certain rice brands,” she said.

According to the Professor of Microbiology, Nigerians should not panic as the plastic rice story was false.