ARMTI to discuss agriculture at 19th annual lecture

The Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute will today (Thursday) host its 19th annual lecture at its campus.

The Public Relations Officer, ARMTI, Mr. Mayowa Gidado, gave the topic of the lecture as: ‘Youth in agriculture: Possibilities and opportunities for sustainable agricultural business in Nigeria’.

The guest lecturer is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Paul Okpue Farms, Asaba, Delta State, Mr. Paul Okpue; while the acting Director-General, National Directorate of Employment, Mr. Kunle Obayan, is among the discussants.

Gidado said the programme would serve as an avenue for ARMTI to fulfil one of its mandates, which is to contribute to policy development to enhance better management of the agricultural and rural sector in Nigeria.

He added that the programme was expected to attract policymakers, practitioners, academics and other stakeholders to brainstorm on topical issues in the agricultural sector, which has been placed on the front burner this year.

According to him, the lecture series has attracted several notable personalities in the past like Maj.-Gen. Agbazika Innih, Rear Admiral Murtala Nyako, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Dr. Ishrait Husain of the World Bank;  the Country Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Dr. Louise Setswaelo;  and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, among others.

Gidado stated that this year’s programme would also coincide with two ongoing courses in ARMTI at namely: ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about sweet potato’ and ‘Youth empowerment scheme in agribusiness’ entrepreneurial and management training.

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.

BENUE WIDOWS EXCEL IN FARMING THROUGH GROUP SAVINGS.

Justina Ya’apera is a middle-aged widow in Anyiin, Logo LGA in Benue State and proud owner of 40 bags of soya beans, which could fetch her over N400, 000 given the current price of the produce at N12,000 per bag.

She produced the 40 bags from a loan of N10,000 she got through group savings and N20, 000 micro credit from Bank of Agriculture and Gboko Micro Finance Bank in a number of circles, which she has already paid.

The widow is a member of Akanawe women group in Anyiin with 100 members trained and mentored through the federal government and International Fund Agriculture Development (IFAD) Rural Finance Institution-Building Programme (RUFIN), which seeks to reach out to poor rural people.

The programme ensures that the rural poor gain access to financial services and can invest in improving productivity in agriculture and small businesses.

With group savings of N60,000 to N80,000 monthly, a member could get a soft credit to either expand her farm and/or undertake business depending on how much she saves.

Martha Aba’a is another member of the Akanawe (yam farmers’ women association). Her little monthly saving of N500 to N1,000 with the group, along with the micro credits she got through RUFIN linkages, was able to invest in yam production.

Today, “I harvest over 1,000 big tubers of yam from my farm,” she said.

In Ugba, a widow who gave her name as Mrs. Esther is a volunteer under the RUFIN programme. Esther’s job is to help other women to form groups with the aim of imbibing group savings and lending culture.

Her two years of helping women come together resulted in the formation of over 10 women groups, saving from the little they make from their farms and agro-enterprises. These groups lend to themselves depending on how much you save in the group, one could get loan facilities from N5,000 to N50,000.

Another widow, Mrs. Agara while telling her emotional story, recounted how life was miserable for her family before receiving the FG/IFAD capacity building on group formation and saving culture.

The widow has so far mobilised over 100 women into 15 groups in her ward helping them to save their widow’s mite and lending to each other. She told the IFAD supervision team that “I have expanded my soya beans and yam farms, and have now gone into selling cloths too.”

Some of the groups they help to form, like the Nongo Sisters and Kakuli women groups, made up of financially challenged women and widows are taking the lead in changing the economic situation around their families and learning how to empower themselves.

Mrs. Elizabeth Adam of the Nongo Sisters listed the group’s challenges to include more access to financial institutions in order to expand their production base.

As RUFIN winds up next year, the Central Bank (CBN) and International Fund Agriculture Development (IFAD) are already putting in place strategy to sustain rural financial inclusion for the poor smallholder farmers in states willing to key into the programme. NAN.

GOVERNOR UMAHI ORDERS CONFISCATION OF FOREIGN RICE IN EBONYI MARKETS, SHOPS.

The Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi on Monday ordered the confiscation of foreign Rice in different markets, shops and other selling points of the products in the state.

Governor Umahi had recently made the pronounced banning the sell of foreign rice in the State over what he described as the health dangers associated with Foreign rice.

The state governor who made the disclosure in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital while performing the ground breaking ceremony of ultra modern Kpirikpiri market urged residents of the state to inform government of anyone bringing into the State and selling of the commodity into the state.

The governor insisted that for one to sell foreign rice in the land of Ebonyi, the person must ensure compliance with all due processes to certify it is not poisonous.

He said, “We have set up a Taskforce and directed them to confiscate foreign rice found in our market.

“The person should give us the certificate of the quality of the rice, you have to prove the import duties you paid for it, where you brought it from and you give us Standard Organization of Nigeria certificate to prove that the rice is not poisonous”.

Gov Umahi said foreign rice is poisonous, “some of these rice were stored for more then 20 years abroad before it would be smuggled into the country”.

“That is why we see cases of cancer, cases of kidney failure and all kinds of diseases that our people were not known for. So you are taking risk if you are selling foreign rice in the land of Ebonyi, “he added.

The governor who said Ebonyi government had enough rice and looking for distributors, advised people to register and become distributors of Ebonyi rice.

He promised to open up modern markets in all the thirteen local government areas of the state and assured that the kpirikpiri market when completed would compete with any other modern market in the country.

Governor Umahi during the ceremony also expressed displeasure with the high level of substandard projects in the ongoing School renovations across the 13 Local Government Areas of the State.

He stated that the State government would soon commence visit of all the project and would not hesitate to demolish any of the project that are viewed to be substandard adding that his administration would never compromise standard.

The noted that after the demolition, the contractor would also be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others pointing out that all projects executed by his administration must have a lifespan of 50 years.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Investment, Mr. Peter Obah has ordered that all foreign rice in the State must be evacuated or moved out of the state within two weeks.

In a Press statement signed by him and made available to Leadership, the SA warned that no sells, buying or consumption of foreign rice in Ebonyi state would be allowed after 2 weeks.

‘’This is to safeguard the lives of the people who now consume unhealthy substances packaged as foreign rice to Africa in recent time.

‘’Action would commence to impound all foreign rice seen in the state within two weeks of this statement.” NAN.

MOVEMENT OF PERISHABLE ITEMS THROUGH RAIL TO BEGIN IN KADUNA.

The Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, will on Wednesday commission a new perishable produce railway logistics system at Dutsen Wai in Kubau Local Government Area of the state.

This new system, which is the result of partnership between Growth and Employment in States – Wholesale and Retail Trade (GEMS4) and Connect Rail Services Limited (CRSL), will see the transportation of fresh perishables, especially tomatoes using returnable plastic crates (RPCs) in temperature controlled rail cabins from the North to the southern part of the country.

This development, the organiser said, will not only improve the quality of tomatoes and other fresh perishables supplied from the North to the South but also increase income for small holder farms due to the reduction of post-harvest losses.

GEMS4 Group Intervention Manager, Mr Richard Ogundele said, “This is a national game changer that will lead to massive systemic changes, as the utilisation of Returnable Plastic Crates (RPCs) in the supply chain will ensure quality produce and increased incomes, hence sustaining the gains of early harvesting.”

He further said that “because the railway system being employed is state of the art, transit times will not only be less but traders will be able to transport more harvest in a produce-friendly environment thus getting more value for their efforts.”

In an MOU between GEMS4 and Connect Rail Services, it was agreed that both organisations shall collaborate in developing engagement strategies required to support the use of temperature controlled railway logistics services for the transportation of fresh tomatoes and other farm perishables from Northern to Southern Nigeria.

This flag off ceremony is expected to herald a new beginning in the agricultural landscape of the country as geographical divides shall no longer create constraints in the value chain.

Growth and Employment in States – Wholesale and Retail Trade (GEMS4) is an economic development project jointly funded by the World Bank and DFID/UKaid, which utilises the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach by providing solutions to systemic constraints and the inclusion of small and micro enterprises into better functioning market systems.

The overarching goal is the creation of 10,000 new jobs and increased incomes for 500,000 poor people especially, women. GEMS4 is working with market actors, linking them and facilitating market incentives so they serve each other better. The project is also building local capacity for the supply end to meet the long-term needs of the demand side with benefits to the poor as target. NAN.

NEPC TARGETS $30BILLION FROM NON OIL EXPORTS

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, has expressed optimism that its Zero Oil Plan has the potential to boost earnings from non-oil sector to $30billion over the next five years.

Speaking during a visit to the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh in Abuja, the NEPC Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, said the plan has identified 11 strategic products and sectors in other countries for Nigerian goods.

The NEPC Boss said if the plan is adhered to, the non-oil sector would possibly move from $2.7 billion it currently is to $30 billion.

“More recently, we have developed the Zero Oil Plan, in response to this administration’s charge that Nigeria must begin to look for new drivers of the economy,” Awolowo said.

“The plan is Nigeria’s strategic effort to build an economy that does not need oil to survive and can serve as a major flagship economic programme for the country.”

Meanwhile, the Council has urged Nigerians to embrace mushroom farming to boost the foreign exchange earnings of the country.

Speaking during a one day export workshop on mushroom development for export for growers in Osun State, the Trade Promotion Advisor at NEPC, Akure Office, Mr. Moruf Salami, said mushroom farming would promote the economic diversification agenda of the Federal Government and also boost food production.

He said:“The NEPC is organising this workshop to enlighten our business community on the rudiments of export trade for economic growth. Nigerians need to tap into the multimillion dollar mushroom business, there is a huge money in this business and Nigerians should explore the opportunities.

“The importance of non-oil sector to our national economy and its pivotal role in industrialisation especially in this period of dwindling oil revenue cannot be downplayed. The intention of this workshop is primarily to expose the farmers to modern ways of cultivating mushrooms to meet international standards thereby bringing out the distinct features of export business as opposed to domestic trade.

The Director of African Centre for Mushroom Research and Technological Innovations, Prof. John Okhuoya, said mushroom was in demand in the United States, Europe and Asia because of its health benefits.

He explained that African mushroom is sought after because it is being used to produce drugs, adding that it was being recommended for the treatment of ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension and others. NAN.