Govt to Reduce Milk Importation By 2019

The federal government is working towards reducing milk importation into the country by 2019, minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has said.

He made this known at a multi-stakeholder conference with the theme; ‘Milky Way to Development’ held in Abuja.

 

Represented

 by the director of animal production and husbandry services, Dr. Egejuru Eze, the minister said the country’s annual national dairy output and demand were estimated at 700,000 metric tons and 1,300,000 metric tons respectively, giving a supply gap of about 600,000 metric tons.

He said:” We are partnering with major national and international stakeholder in the dairy sector to inject a considerable volume of locally produced raw powdered milk processed in Nigeria to meet the national demand and drastically reduce milk importation by the year 2019.”

Vice Chairman, Arla Foods, Jan Toft Noergaard said the conference was organised to discuss and offer solution to challenges facing the dairy sector in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa and to improve the livelihood of farmers in the dairy sector.

Focus on Agriculture to avert famine, says Oyedepo

The Chancellor, Landmark University, Bishop David Oyedepo, has said that agrarian revolution will avert the impending famine in the country next year as warned by the Federal Government.

He urged universities and other tertiary institutions in the country to lead the agrarian revolution in order to address food insecurity, national economic recession, lack of industrialisation and the high unemployment rate.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had warned Nigerians to brace for an imminent outbreak of famine by January next year following a huge demand in the global market for Nigeria’s grains and cereals

Oyedepo said during the 7th matriculation of Landmark University in Omu-Aran, Kwara State on Friday, “Apart from the security threat facing us in Africa, the greatest threat to the survival of this continent is the worsening food crisis, which has the potential to wipe off the people all together.

“This is why we cannot afford to wait for this closely impending scenario to become a reality. And this is the vision and mission of Landmark University.

NIGERIA'S BANK OF AGRICULTURE IN VIEW

Bank of Agriculture Limited is the nation’s foremost agricultural and rural development finance institution. It was incorporated in 1972 as Nigerian Agricultural Bank (NAB), in 1978, the name was changed to Nigerian Agricultural and Co-operative Bank Limited (NACB) to reflect the inclusion of co-operative financing into its broader mandate. In October, 2001, following the Federal Government’s effort to streamline the operations of its Agencies, that were believed to be performing overlapping functions, three institutions Nigerian Agricultural and Co-operative Bank Limited (NACB), People’s Bank of Nigeria (PBN) and the risk assets of the Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) were merged to form Nigerian Agricultural, Co-operative & Rural Development Bank Limited. In October 2010, following the rebranding of the Bank to reflect its institutional transformation Programme, the Bank adopted the new name Bank of Agriculture Limited (BOA)

OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE
The Bank is wholly owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria with its shares held by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (40%) and Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) (60%). It is supervised by Federal Ministry of Agriculture. It has an Authorized Share Capital of N50 Billion (Fifty Billion Naira)

KEY MANDATE

The Banks key mandates are:

1. Provision of credit to support all activities in the Agricultural Value Chain
2. Provision of non-agricultural micro credit to the poor segment of the society comprising rural artisans, petty traders etc.
3. Capacity development for the promotion of co-operatives and agricultural information systems.
4. Provision of technical support and extension services
5. Boosting of opportunities for self-employment in the rural areas to stem rural-urban migration.
6. Inculcation of banking habits at the grass-roots of Nigerian society.

STRENGHT

1. Nigeria's largest Development Finance Institution (DFI) and one of Africa’s leading agricultural finance institution.
2. Nigerian DFI with the highest rural operational outlets comprising 136 outlets, 6 Zonal Offices and the Head Office, spread across the 36 States of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory.
3. The Bank has deep institutional knowledge of rural micro and agricultural financing with over 40 years of experience.
4. The Bank maintains strategic partnerships with international and multilateral institutions like USAID, IFAD, World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)
 

LOAN RATE

• . Microcredit Agric & collaborations
• . SME (Production & Working Capital)
• . Marketing, On-lending to MFBs & Microcredit (Non-Agric)

Loan Condition

• 20% Lien Deposits
• 6 months Minimum Customer's Account Relationship

Deposit

• . Interest Rate
• Negotiable Fixed Deposit

 

CBN TO PROVIDE N750bn FOR AGRIC BANK RECAPITALISATION

The Central Bank of Nigeria is to provide about N750bn for the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture before the end of next year, the Federal Government has said.
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According to the government, the restructuring and recapitalisation of the BoA will enable the bank to attract up to N1tn to effectively provide loans at affordable interest rates to farmers.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed this at the Farmers’ Field Day organised by Dizengoff Nigeria Limited in collaboration with Phinada Integrated Farms in Abuja.

He said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture. This is because one of the biggest challenge of agriculture in Nigeria today is access to affordable loans. But in many other parts of the world, agriculture is the most attractive sector for banks to lend money to. So what do we do?

“As a ministry and the Federal Government, we are planning to recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture. So, we are to restructure the BoA and the CBN is committed to providing about N750bn. The BoA as an institution itself is going to attract hundreds of billions of naira. And we thinking that before the end of next year, we should be able to attract at least N1tn available credit to be lent to anybody who wants to do farming business.”

The minister added, “Right now, the Federal Government is subsidising farmers, but the subsidy is not what the farmers want. We have seen this under the Anchor Borrowers Scheme of the CBN in Kebbi. In that scheme there was no subsidy.

“What the CBN, through the BoA, did was to give each farmer between N110,000 and N130,000 to cultivate one hectare of rice farm, and some of them got 10 tonnes per hectare. And if rice per tonne is between N60,000 and N80,000, then whoever adequately cultivates two hectares is already a millionaire.”

Lokpobiri further stated that the Federal Government decided to make tractors import duty-free in a bid to move Nigeria towards mechanised and commercial agriculture.

CELEBRATING CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE.

Peterangelo Vallis is the executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers Association based in Kingsburg, CA. Today, he discusses the great care farmers put into their land.

“Hey, we don’t make any more land. God gave us a green earth. That is what we’ve got, and we live in the best possible place to grow virtually anything,” said Vallis.

“In most cases, anything that has been farmed here in California has been farmed for a hundred years. The soil is better now than it was naturally because we are taking better care of it. We’re putting more natural green material back into the ground,” Vallis explained. 

“We are stewards of the land, and we have to be cognizant of that. We have to publicize that fact because farmers are the best people at caring for the lad,” he said.

“I think oftentimes we are so busy caring for the land, we don’t do as good of a job pumping our chest up to everyone, going, ‘Hey! You know what? You come try to do this. You try to do it half as good as me, ‘because I’ve learned things from school. I’ve learned things from my family. I’ve learned things from generations. I’ve learned things just because I’m here doing my job and watching out,” Vallis said.

Vallis believes we need to widen the conversation and tell more people that farmers do the things they need to do; they do the things that benefit all society.

“We are proud of what we are doing. You know what? People who eat are the direct beneficiaries. Everyone who opens a can of beans. Everyone who goes and gets some lettuce out of the fridge. Everyone who eats beef, chicken or any other meat benefits from our taking care of the land to continue to produce,” he said.

“No farmer I know and no farmer I have ever met actively goes out and poisons our land, because then they can’t make food. Making food is what we are called to do. BY LAURIE GREENE(CALIFORNIA).

FEDERAL FUNDS TO HELP REDUCE FOOD WASTE IN CONNECTICUT

HARTFORD (AP) — Connecticut is using new federal funding to help reduce the amount of food that's wasted in the state.

 

 

Officials estimate nearly 520,000 tons of food waste is generated annually in Connecticut, some of which could've been donated to feed needy people.

A $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a $25,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been awarded to the Massachusetts-based Center for EcoTechnology, which is executing projects across Connecticut to help businesses and institutions minimize wasted food.

The center expects to provide technical assistance to up to 20 businesses in 2017 and ultimately divert 600 tons of wasted food.
The EPA grant is funding "Don't Waste Bridgeport," an effort to redirect wasted food from schools, supermarkets and restaurants to charity organizations in the city. BY THE DAY.

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.