CROP INSURANCE

Crop insurance is the centerpiece of the farm safety net, a victory for farm groups who made a strong insurance program their top priority for the 2014 farm law. Now, a year after that success, the federally supported program is in the bull’s eye for budget cuts on Capitol Hill, ranging from tighter rules on prevented planting to higher premiums for big operators.
The fight won’t be decided for months to come. It’s pointed at operations in 2016, so it would not affect policies for this year’s crops.
At the first House Agriculture Committee hearing of the year, chairman Mike Conaway of Texas told Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that cuts are unacceptable. “Now is precisely the wrong time to weaken crop insurance,” Conaway said, pointing to USDA forecasts that farm income will fall by one third this year. “The ag economy has been turned on its head.”
Farm groups and crop insurers, with their allies in Congress, are working strenuously to prevent cuts. Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts says he would “protect, preserve, and improve the number one risk-management tool available to farmers.” Growers insured 294 million acres last year.
With the program projected to cost nearly $9 billion a year – more than conservation or traditional crop subsidies – it is an inevitable target in the drive to cut federal spending.
“Make no mistake, crop insurance’s days of flying under the radar are done,” said
industry executive Tim Weber at a crop insurance convention.
The Obama administration proposed a 17% cut in insurance costs by:
• Reducing the premium subsidy by 10 percentage points for revenue policies with the harvest price option that insures the price at harvest and
• Adjusting payment rates for prevented planting. 
“The safety net is solid and still there,” said Vilsack, if Congress agrees to the reforms.
Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a frequent farm program critic, tried during the farm bill debate to eliminate the harvest price option and now has filed a bill to carry out the White House proposal.
Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Patrick Toomey (R-PA) have filed a bill to cap premium subsidies at $50,000 per farm, which would affect the largest 2.5% of farmers. Vilsack warned that the approach “could potentially impact participation” – quiet words of opposition.
Of the proposed reforms, the harvest price option would save the most, an average $1.4 billion a year. Reformers have talked as well of other ways to reduce costs, such as cutting off or sharply reducing premium subsidies to the wealthiest farmers. BY CHUCK ABBOTT.

Haiti’s Community Gardeners enthusiastic about Nutrition

Haitian women are using song and theatre to promote healthy eating habits learned in FAO community garden project.

Key facts

Only one unpaved road connects Haiti’s Grand’Anse province – a finger of land jutting from the country’s southwest corner – to the rest of the country. 

In spite of its remoteness, the population of Grand’Anse has increased by some 120 000 since the devastating 2010 earthquake, due to an influx of refugees from more badly damaged areas. 

This rapid upsurge in population put serious pressure on the area’s resources and food supply, increasing levels of already chronic malnutrition. 

To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, FAO and partners launched a project that has improved both nutrition and livelihoods for more than 5 000 of the most vulnerable families in the area. 

The project has provided women with practical hands-on training in homestead food-production techniques, combined with classes that introduce them to the importance of making pro-nutrition decisions about what they plant and feed to their families.

A community garden has become a centre of social life in the tiny municipality of Moron, in Grand’Anse province of Haiti. 

The garden is a thriving symbol of the success of an FAO project that led the women of several surrounding villages to move nutrition to the top of the list when it came to making decisions about what crops to grow and livestock to rear. In fact, the project has been such a success that project staff refer to the local women who work together in the garden as mamans lumières or “light mothers”.

The name symbolizes their enthusiasm for what they are learning about nutrition and agricultural production and their willingness to impart their knowledge to other women in their community. 

 They have even written songs and plays to share their knowledge, attracting audiences and creating a ripple effect that has passed on tips on food production and proper eating habits to families throughout the entire region. This in turn has helped alleviate a chronic malnutrition problem in the area.

Gardens fill nutritional gaps

The project owes part of its success to the strategic decision to go beyond merely introducing techniques that increase yields, and to also tackle the complex issue of nutrition. 

In the initial stage, FAO looked at the problems and causes of malnutrition in the area, identified local crops that would fill in the nutritional gaps and developed a plan to improve or increase production of those foods.

Set up in 12 municipalities of Grand’Anse, the project offers classes aimed at improving production, such as agronomy, livestock rearing and marketing. In parallel, it also introduces women to good practices for hygiene, food handling and child care – while always maintaining a pro-nutrition point of view. 

The plan included training, workshops, cooking classes and practical experience in applying new farming techniques and cooking skills, all designed to increase the women’s capacity to produce food and prepare meals to improve their families’ nutrition and health.

Processing skills mean year-round nutrition

Mango processing – introduced as a way to deal with seasonality – is a case in point. As with many crops and fruits, mangoes are so plentiful that they are often left to rot on the trees or the ground because the seasonal supply greatly exceeds the demand. 

The project included mango processing, teaching the women to dry and process mangoes when they are in season. The processed fruits not only provide consumers year-round access to critical vitamin A – the women can also sell their excess production to increase household income. 

The same is true for other local produce, such as okra and amaranth, leafy vegetables the women did not appreciate for their nutritional value until they attended the FAO training classes.

This concept has been especially important in Grand’Anse. The province was spared the devastation of the 2010 earthquake that struck the rest of the country but had to deal with a population spike when some 120 000 people flocked there seeking sanctuary. 

The meteoric increase put even more pressure on the area, which already had compromised resources and a population that suffered from chronic malnutrition, stunting and micronutrient deficiencies.

Source: FAO official site

FAO SUCCESS STORIES

This booklet provides examples of climate-smart systems

by showcasing some FAO success stories in various

countries. The cases have been selected from the FAO

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Sourcebook launched in

2013 to show the diversity of potential options across

different regions and agricultural systems also covering

subjects such as biodiversity and gender

Click here to view

source: fao official site

SUCCESS STORIES Pt.3

This is the third Compilation of the experiences of only a few of the multitude of farmers from around the world and India specifically. This Men, Women, Communities, Youths and Children by their sheer dint of hard word, perseverance and zeal to do better are silently re-writing the story of Indian Agriculture. They are a few of the flag bearers of Change, innovation, enterprise and courage.

The Stories Captured in this edition are but a drop in the ocean of experiences and achievements of farmers across the globe.

These Stories contain strong presence of women in the their pursuit to better their lives and the lives of their families.

To Nigeria, this is an opportunity for the youths to take advantage of this stories, wear them as shields in times of perils and forge ahead in their agricultural pursuits.

These Stories are to encourage and motivate people - Those already in the sector and those planning to get into the sector - and highlight the Power of co-operation among individuals and communities.

Click here to download the Pdf file.

God Bless Nigeria!


Source: farmers portal

SUCCESS STORIES Pt. 2

This is a Compilation of the experiences of only a few of the multitude of farmers from around the world and India specifically. This Men, Women, Communities, Youths and Children by their sheer dint of hard word, perseverance and zeal to do better are silently re-writing the story of Indian Agriculture. They are a few of the flag bearers of Change, innovation, enterprise and courage.

The Stories Captured in this edition and indeed other editions to come are but a drop in the ocean of experiences and achievements of farmers across the globe.

To Nigeria, this is an opportunity for the youths to take advantage of this stories, wear them as shields in times of perils and forge ahead in their agricultural pursuits.

These Stories are to encourage and motivate people - Those already in the sector and those planning to get into the sector - and highlight the Power of co-operation among individuals and communities.

Click here to download the Pdf file.


God Bless Nigeria!

source: farmers portal

SUCCESS STORIES Pt.1

The stories in this PDF file are quite inspiring, showing Communal Collaboration, Individual Determination, Hard work, Perseverance and LOVE FOR WHAT THEY DO.

Click SUCCESS STORIES to download


source: farmers portal

Raw Cashew Nuts Investment; What You Must Know

Virtually every day, at the Agric Investment Unit of Agro News Nigeria, we get numerous calls and enquiries from Nigerians, who want to join the Multi – billion Cashew Nuts trading and processing business.

With Cashew investors and traders in Nigeria raking in over One Hundred and Fifty Million Us dollars annually ($150, 000,000), alone from local trading and export of  Raw Cashew Nuts, Nigerians are awakening to the fact that Raw Cashew Nuts is gradually becoming the new dollar spinner and income generation agric crop.

Gone are the days when people would throw away cashew nuts after eating the cashew fruit. It is now like oil, a most cherished commodity.

From youths, adults to established agric investors, the reoccurring question have always centered on the following;

• How can I make money trading Raw Cashew Nuts?

• How can I get Indians and foreigners to purchase the cashew nuts?

• Is it true that I can make a lot of money from Raw Cashew Nuts?

• Where do I source my Cashew nuts?

Unfortunately, the above questions are not the basic questions anyone interested in the business of Raw Cashew Nuts and its processing should be asking.

The established fact and truth is that there is money to be made from Raw Cashew Nuts, but with every business, anyone looking to build income and wealth through Raw Cashew Nuts must be able to understand the following basics; I term them the “Raw Cashew Nuts Investment Must Know”

These Cashew Nuts Must Know Include but not limited to;

• How Much Funds Is Needed to start

• Best Time to Source for Raw Cashew Nuts.

• Cheapest Locations to Source Raw Cashew Nuts

• The Best Strategy to Adopt to Be Able to Source At Cheaper Rates (Buying More For Less)

• How To Ensure Quality of Nuts

• How To Maximise Profit Through Storage

• How To Maximize Profit Through Local Processing (More is to be made from this than export of raw nuts)

• Best Strategy To Mop Up Funds To Purchase Raw Cashew Nuts

• When Best To Sell Your Raw Cashew Nuts

• Investing in the Raw Cashew Nuts Business As a Cooperative

• How To Access Foreign Buyers

• Exporting RCN (Raw Cashew Nuts)

Mastery of all the above questions, steps and guide lines in the RCN (Raw Cashew Nuts) Business and Investment would ensure your success in the business and that you maximise and optimise profit.

Cucumber Farming

Cucumber farming is one venture that the profitability could actually surprise anyone who dares to go into it with the right knowledge and skills.

While thousands of young men and women are busy seeking for employment and white collar jobs those who have seen the income opportunity in cucumber farming are not concerned about any of that because their ventures are adequately taking good care of them financially.

Cucumber farming in Nigeria is one of those opportunities that are begging to be explored.

Cucumber is a vegetable that is widely consumed all over the world due to its health benefits which both the educated and non-educated individuals testify to.

Before you start cucumber farming in Nigeria, you need to gather all of the necessary information in order to setup your farm at the right location, right time and the right cost.

The right information should be obtained about the following areas to be farm cucumber profitably;

• Marketable variety / Specie

• Variety with better yield

• Site selection

• Soil testing

• Land preparation

• Inter row and intra row spacing

• Planting depth

• Pesticide and herbicide application

• Water and irrigation practice (You can do cucumber all year round in Greenhouse)

• Fertilizer application

• Staking

• Harvesting Practices

• Marketing (Strategic marketing guides)

Why Nigerian cocoa production is on steady decline

The president of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, has attributed the continued decline in cocoa production in Nigeria to the long period it takes to mature as well as impatience among Nigerian youth, who are expected to embrace its production.

Iyama, who spoke in Abuja, yesterday, at the 2nd Daily Trust Agric Conference, said cocoa was a  good crop to invest in but required a lot of patience from youth willing to go into its production.

“It’s not four to six months, it is up to five years minimum but the beauty is that it can last for 70 years,” he said.

Dr. Victor also stated that production of cocoa beans from harvest up to the time when it is properly fermented took between 27 and 30 days depending on the weather.

He said chocolate was the easiest cocoa product to make and it generates large sums of money from the cocoa industry.

“Out of the 120 billion USD cocoa economy, less than 15 billion USD goes to cocoa beans, cocoa cake and cocoa butter while the rest goes to chocolate,” he said.

Dr. Victor noted that cocoa was the second largest foreign exchange earner, next only to oil, adding that 29 states in the country can produce cocoa.

“There’s cocoa in Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi and so many states have joined, it is no longer a southern affair but a national affair,” Dr. Victor said

FG’s budgetary allocation to agriculture unrealistic- Stakeholders

Key stakeholders at the ongoing 2nd Daily Trust Agriculture Conference and Expo are of the opinion that the present budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector by the federal government can not address the many challenges facing the sector.

Those who spoke at the confab’s interactive session particularly frowned at the 2017 budgetary allocation, which they said was still less than one percent of the total budget.

Leading the session, Mr. S.J. Samuel, Group Executive Chairman of VegeFresh Group, said the sector was facing lots of challenges including un-organised market structure, absence of good inputs and poor infrastructure among others which required huge budgetary allocation.

“There is disconnect in government policies towards agriculture, because they said agriculture is their slogan but allocated less than 1% in the  recently released budget to the sector. How will this address the numerous challenges facing the long neglected sector,”? he asked.

As part of solutions to the problem, Mr. Samuel advised that proper  coordination of the value chain should be carried out, adding that the  private sector could key in and contribute to the budgetary needs of  agriculture under certain agreement with the government.

“Currently, Nigeria imports food worth 23 billion USD (N1.5 trillion), contributing 3 billion USD to the country’s export earnings, unlike in the 70s when agriculture contributed up to 70% to the country’s export earnings,” he said.

Mr. Samuel recalled that about 15 tomato factories have since closed down operations in the country, his factory inclusive.

Narrating a personal experience, he also recalled how they tried to acquire a factory among the ailing factories but found it impossible, adding that their farms also had to close down because of security challenges in the North.

On infrastructure, he stated that previous policies were put in place to stimulate agriculture but the linkages were not well coordinated as such people that went into dector ran at a loss

Source: Daily Trust