FCT MINISTER THREATENS TO REVOKE ALLOCATIONS TO FISH FARM ALLOTEES.

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello has threatened to revoke allocations to Fish Farm allottees who fail to move to the farms within two months from today.

Bello, who said this when he visited the farms sited at Bwari Area Council on Friday in Abuja, noted that the allottees would forfeit the allocations at the expiration of the two months.

According to him, government cannot just allocate the farms to people who refused to make use of the facility.

He frowned at a situation whereby only four people out of 100 who got allocations were presently doing the business, a development he described as unacceptable.

The minister said if the allotees failed to occupy the farms by the end of the two months period given to them, the allocation would be revoked.

 He also directed the allotees to make N5,000 available every month to pay for security and maintenance of the farms, adding that if  the 100 allottees paid, it would amount to N500, 000 which should be sufficient to take care of the farms.

Bello also frowned at the level of farm houses being built within the estate while the fish ponds were not developed.

“The allotees should suspend building of such structures till they complete the ponds.

“Based on what is happening here and complains by the allotees that there is no water and road within the farms, I have suspended the construction of the roads from the budget.’’

The Bwari Fish Farm Estate is a government intervention that commenced in 2012 to encourage families to go into fish farming leveraging on the water resources available in the FCT as well as the enormous market.

This was based on the realisation that there was a huge gap between the demand for fish and supply of fish.

“So, I came in here as part of my general policy drive in ensuring that all good projects that are meant to be of immense benefit to the residents of the territory started by the previous administration are completed.’’

Bello assured that based on what he had seen and interaction with the members of staff, the project would go a long way in boosting fish production in the territory.

He also advised beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme posted to the farms to acquire training on fish farming to reach out to the secondary schools and communities around as most schools have Young Farmers Club to impact knowledge acquired. (NAN). BY AGRONEWS.

ARMY WORM: KANO FARMERS OUT OF DANGER.

Kano wing of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has declared that farmers in the state are out of danger of army worm attack on farms.

State AFAN chairman Farouk Rabi’u Mudi disclosed this while addressing newsmen on the recent attack of army worm in the state.

He said the association was able to surmount the pestilence through collaboration with the state ministry of agriculture and other agricultural development bodies through constant sensitizations of farmers on method of addressing the worm attack on their plantations.

“When the worms came, they attacked a lot of plantations in Kano especially maize. However, with the last years’ experience on tomato we were able to educate the farmers on method through which such attacks will be controlled. I am happy to tell you tjhat presently Kano farmers are out of danger of the army worms attack. I must state here that, without support from the state government and many other development partners in agriculture, the situation would have been different,” said the state AFAN chairman.

Similarly, Malam Abdu Usman a farmer in the state said, it is early for farmers to celebrate as traces of the army worms are still visible in many farms. Malan Usman had attributed this to the economic constrains the farmers faces presently. BY AGRONEWS.

FAMINE LOOMS AS NEW DISEASE THREATEN FARM PRODUCE.

The Coordinating Director of the Nigerian Agricultural and Quarantine Service (NAQS), Vincent Isegwu, has stressed the need to be on the watch out for viral diseases that are capable of destroying farm produce during the harvest season.

The diseases, according to him, are Cassava brown streak, maize nitant necrosis and coconut yellowing disease.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Abuja, he said “There are some diseases which are lurking in the corner which the country must be very aware of. They are so devastating; they are viral, which means they cannot be treated, and we need to prepare and face them squarely”.

“One is for Cassava and it is called Cassava brown streak disease. It can cause 100% rot of cassava tubers on the ground. Another is maize nitant necrosis which also causes complete devastation and does not even allow plants to mature. It withers, dries up and becomes unproductive and the coconut yellowing disease causes the foliage (leaves) to be dead so that all you see is the stem standing like a telecoms mast or electric poles

“And you can imagine anything of such devastation, 100% affecting our cassava which is a major staple in Nigeria. Maize is also our staple; we roast maize, cook maize, make ‘tuwo’ and even ‘akamu’. So, we cannot afford to be careless about these diseases coming into the country”.

Isegwu said the cassava brown streak disease is already in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Congo Republic and is moving from Southern to Central Africa.

His words: “So, we need to be careful so we don’t allow any cassava cuttings into the country, not from those countries and not from anywhere.

“Because they could come from such countries, enter another country before coming into Nigeria and you say no, it didn’t come from those Southern African countries but from the Eastern flank, not knowing that it transits through one of their West African neighbours or North African neighbours before coming down. So, we must not allow any vegetative cutting for cassava to enter the country, except we are very sure of the source and there is a pre-arrangement that such cottons have come for research or whateve”r.

The NAQS DG assured that presently, all the border stations are aware of this and are mounting surveillance for them. “But what we are doing now is to put a proposal to government of the cost implication for the monitoring to avert it.  I need specialist training to be able to identify it or else when you see it, you will think it is a cassava mosaic disease which is not the case”, he added. BY AGRONEWS.

FARM MARKETS TRADE BELOW DAILY HIGHS, REMAIN STRONG TUESDAY.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- On Tuesday, the CME Group’s farm markets come off their daily highs and remain well supported by crop-weather concerns.

At midsession, the September corn futures are 6¾¢ higher at $3.81¾, and December futures are 7½¢ higher at $3.95½.

August soybean futures are 10½¢ higher at $9.95; November soybean futures are 10½¢ higher at $10.08.
September wheat futures are 2¼¢ higher at $5.08.

December soy meal futures are $2.80 per short ton higher at $332.30. December soy oil futures are 0.34¢ higher at 33.78¢ per pound.

In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.28 per barrel higher, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 88 points lower.

Another heat wave will roll through the Midwest starting today with temperatures expected to near triple digits, as reported Tuesday.

Much of eastern Nebraska and Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois are under excessive heat watches, warnings, or advisories starting today, according to the National Weather Service.

“Hot and humid temperatures are expected to build this week and linger through Saturday across the region,” the NWS said in a report on Tuesday morning. “Air temperatures will reach near the triple-digit mark by midweek, and heat indices may reach or exceed 105˚F. to 110˚F. each afternoon Wednesday through Saturday.”

Some cloud cover or spotty showers may provide some relief in limited areas, but it’s going to be extremely hot in the heart of the Corn Belt for the next few days, according to the agency.
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Monday’s Grain Market Review

On Monday, the CME Group continues to see little movement, aside from the soybean complex gaining slight strength.

At the close, the September corn futures finished 1¼¢ lower at $3.75, while December futures finished 1½¢ lower at $3.88.

August soybean futures closed 4¢ lower at $9.85; November soybean futures closed 4¢ lower at $9.97.

September wheat futures closed 4¾¢ lower at $5.06.

December soy meal futures settled $1.90 per short ton lower at $321.80. December soy oil futures closed 0.24¢ lower at 33.44¢ per pound.

In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is 51¢ per barrel lower, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 3 points higher.

Jason Roose, U.S. Commodities grain analyst, says that as the crop conditions go, so go the markets.
“The grains are trading lower today on a mixed weather forecast. With the majority of the crop going through pollination the next 10 days, Monday's USDA Weekly Crop Conditions Report will be watched closely after three weeks of lower ratings,” Roose says.

  BY MIKE MCGGINNIS.

U.S FARMERS MAINTAIN OPTIMISM FOR A.G ECONOMY, BAROMETER REPORTS.

The Purdue/CME Group’s June survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers indicates producers feel their farm operations’ financial positions are stronger now than a year ago.

This shift in producers’ perspective is one reason the Ag Economy Barometer’s June reading of 131 was virtually unchanged from a month earlier. The Ag Economy Barometer, a producer-based sentiment index, has held steady for three months in a row and remains well above levels recorded prior to November 2016.

The shift in producers’ perspectives regarding their financial positions is part of a long-term trend, according to the Barometer’s results released last week. In June 2016, just 3% of survey respondents felt their operations were financially better off than a year earlier. That percentage increased to 10% last fall, then declined somewhat in early winter before rebounding to its current reading of 13%, the highest reading since we began surveying producers in October 2015.

A similar pattern emerges when examining the percentage of producers indicating their farms’ financial positions declined compared with 12 months prior. The percentage of farmers indicating that their financial positions were worse than a year earlier was 46% in June 2017, little changed from May’s 44%, but well below the 67% recorded as recently as February.

The shift in perspective compared with last summer is even more noticeable since 81% of respondents in August 2016 said their farm was financially worse off than the year before.
The long-term shift in producers’ attitudes about their operations’ financial conditions is likely reflective of several factors.

First, revenues on many farms increased as a result of record, or near-record crop yields in 2016. The revenue improvement was further supported by the fact that corn and soybean futures prices strengthened from late summer through early winter.

Second, production costs moderated for most crop operations compared with the prior year. Fertilizer prices in particular were weaker than a year earlier, helping to improve margins.

Third, as the long-term adjustment to tighter crop operating margins continues, farmland rental rates continue to adjust downward, helping to brighten the financial picture for many farm operations.

Looking Ahead to the Rest of 2017

In addition to the monthly questions measuring sentiment, the barometer survey also asks producers about the key drivers affecting their farms and the broad farm economy.

On the June survey, producers were asked to compare current expectations about their farm financial performance in 2017 to their initial budgets or plans.

Most producers (60%) indicated that current expectations are “about the same” as their initial expectations. However, for farm operations whose expectations changed, there was a turn toward “worse than” planned (28% was more common than “better than” budgeted (12%).

The number of respondents indicating they expect their 2017 financial performance will be worse than originally planned could be reflective of the difficulties some farms have experienced this spring with respect to planting and poor growing conditions, especially in the eastern Corn Belt. BY DAVID WIDMAR.