It is said that 'knowledge is the bedrock of existence'. As such, this blog serves to freely inform the general public about the importance of agriculture. The blog also serves to educate people on the different products that could be used on plants and animals to boost their growth and minimise loss and mortality.
Former
President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed support to President
Muhammadu Buhari on his efforts to revive the nation’s economy through
agriculture.
Obasanjo
who stated this during an interaction with journalists shortly after
his visit to the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewuare II, in Edo
State, affirmed that it had become crystal clear that agriculture was
the only sustainable business in the country capable of withstanding any
season.
He also said the move by the President would redirect the
economy of Nigeria from oil.
“We have no other sustainable business other than agriculture that can keep us going, come rain or shine,” he said.
Speaking
on the visit of the elder statesman to his kingdom, Oba Ewuare noted
that being a successful farmer, Obasanjo would inspire the agro-allied
industry in Edo to grow, adding that agricultural development was the
way forward for Nigeria.
The
Former President had visited the ancient city of Benin to inspect a
multi-million dollar farm project owned by an Edo –based business man
Dr. Hosa Okunbor located in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government of the State.
Guardian
reports that Okunbor recently started a multi-billion naira agro-allied
business in collaboration with a Mexican firm, Wells Sam Carlos Farm
worth N150 billion. The farm is expected to generate 85,000 jobs in the
State.
The
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has in
strong terms stated that it has no affiliation with the promoters of
Capfis Program advertised on the internet.
In
a release signed by the Director of Information, FMARD, Tony Ohaeri,
expressed that the Ministry was not aware of any cassava processing
intervention scheme which sought to provide a two weeks intensive
training with on mechanized cassava cultivation coupled with loaded
benefits as advertised on their website.
“It
has come to the notice of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development that certain individual/individuals have placed an
advertisement on the internet inviting people to register in a certain
programme named CAPFIS. The advertisement also said that the programme
is supported by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development”.
According
to the advertisement, participants are to get benefits such as the
allotment of cassava and 5 hectares to cultivate cassava to each
participant, N20,000 monthly allowances, Provision of accommodation, 25%
accrued profit on inter cropping opportunity and N1,000,000 after 8-9
months as reward for monitoring and nurturing the farmland.
Ohaeri refuted claims that the program was endorsed by the ministry as stated in the advertisement.
“The
Ministry wishes to inform the general public that it does not know the
promoters of the advertisement (Programme) and has not given expressed
support in any form to the said programme”.
He however advised members of the public to validate such programmes with the Ministry before getting involved.
The volume of imported agricultural
products rose by 33 percent in the third quarter of the year (Q3 2016),
the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated monday.
It added that raw materials imports grew 60 percent above the level
in Q2While imported solid minerals grew 68.5 percent compared to the
previous quarter.
The statistical agency further stated in its 3rd Quarter 2016
External Trade News: Trade Intensity Index/Re-Exports Analysis, which
was released yesterday that the value of exported agricultural products
rose by 5.30 percent relative to Q2., while imported raw materials was
32.05 percent higher in value than the previous quarter.
Essentially, the report serves to complements the quarterly trade
reports- particularly the Q3 foreign trade statistics released recently,
by providing a clearer analysis of sectoral classification of imports
and exports at a more aggregated level, without crude oil and oil
products which tend to distort and disguise other trade patterns due to
their size.
In the new analysis by the NBS, wood fuels are separated from mineral
fuel which was classed in the same category with crude oil and other
oil products.
It further enhances the regular trade report by deepening trade analysis
by introducing the concept of re-exports and trade intensity, according
to the NBS.
Nevertheless, other oil products grew by 43.3 percent in the period
under review compared to Q2 estimates while solid minerals exports grew
by 220.96 percent.
The NBS said the value of manufactured products exports was also 21.86
percent more than the record in Q2 while crude oil exports rose 30.86
percent in Q3.
Nigeria’s external trade totaled N 4.72 trillion in Q3 and consisted
of exports worth N2.30 trillion and imports valued at N2.41 trillion,
indicating a slight negative trade balance of N104 billion.
Crude oil exports accounted for N1.94 trillion or 4.2 percent of total trade.
According to the NBS:”The Country’s import intensities were also high
with India (2.57, 2.49 and 1.28) and the Netherlands (4.38, 2.57 and
1.04) during the same months.
However, the import intensity of Nigeria
with United States and Spain were lower, with indices less than one
other than for Spain in August.
This is possibly a result of the mix of
products imported from these countries, which may have been affected
more by the CBN import regulations.”
The President of Nigeria Agribusiness
Group, NABG, Sani Dangote, has expressed optimism over massive
revolution in agribusiness in 2017 based on collaborations and synergies
formed by the Federal Government and the group.
Dangote stated this at the 2nd Annual General Meeting of NABG in
Abuja, where he also disclosed that NABG Presidential Committee in
partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development were working hard to jump-start and catalyze a roadmap on
the implementation of the recently launched Agriculture Promotion
Policy, APP, tagged: “Green Alternative,” which will propel the expected
revolution in Nigeria’s agribusiness within the next 12 months.
He acknowledged and said with President Muhammadu Buhari leading the
revolution in the sector and willingness to engage the organised private
sector in renewed drive to diversify the economy through transformation
of the agricultural sector, agribusiness will experience a boom and
farmers’ living standard will improve.
He said: “Agriculture in Nigeria is still done the way it was done in
the 1960’s probably before 1960. But within the next 12 months, we will
experience a dramatic revolution in agribusiness.
“The government of President Buhari has started listening. We have
engaged the office of the Vice-President, we have also engaged the
office of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and they
have agreed to engage NABG to fashion out the way forward for the next
12 months.
“We have proposed focusing on industrial food and non-food
ingredients manufacturing, and value added processing of staple foods
(crops, livestock and fisheries) into packaged, convenient and
nutritious food products for domestic consumption and export markets to
create jobs, drive competitiveness and significant increase in generated
revenue base at the state level.
“We have proposed a shift from incentivising commercial banks to lend
to agriculture to directly incentivising structured cooperative farmers
through off-take markets and price stabilisation mechanism.
“We have proposed a strengthening the cooperation platform of the
current Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and State driven Anchor Borrowers
Programme by shifting to the concept of private sector focused programme
through recapitalisation of Bank of Agriculture, NISRAL and Bank of
Industry.
“These are some of the proposals we have made to the federal
government that we believe, if they follow what we have advised to be
done, in 12 months, we will see a big revolution in agribusiness and it
will turn out to be a big business, and not a mere formality in service
and practice.”
The agro-investor also expressed optimism that with the proposed
roadmap for the sector, the expected revolution will bring interest rate
for agriculture and agribusiness financing down to five per cent or
less in 2017 for more attraction of investors.
The National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia
State, has trained and empowered over 20,000 rural women and youths on
Production Technologies and Value Addition to Root and Tuber Crops.
Executive Director of the institute, Dr Julius Okonkwo, announced
this at a three-day training workshop organised for 120 rural women and
youths of six host communities at Awom Na Ebo Secondary Technical
School, Amawom in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state.
He expressed that the training was part of efforts to complement
Federal Government’s efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment.
Highlighting core aspects of the training, Okonkwo noted that with
the new technologies for income generation and improved, disease
resistant cassava and sweet potato varieties, the farmers would be able
to kick-start their own enterprises.
“We expect the trainees to effectively use the knowledge they
acquired to create wealth and employ members of their families in the
business”.
The Guardian reports that the Executive Director also pledged support
of the NRCRI to empower the farmers, using technological innovations to
encourage their entrepreneurial interest to boost food supply.
Representatives of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity
Programme (WAAPP), a World Bank assisted Programme have revealed that
farmers do not need massive capital to be successful in agriculture.
Professor Victoria Ayuba, who led the delegation on a World Bank
Mission Support visit to the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure
adopted communities and schools made this statement while addressing the
students and community members.
“Many people often complain that finance is the major constraint
against their involvement in the scheme, but I can tell you
emphatically, that is not true. With very little money, they can start
something very big in agriculture,” she said.
Ayuba noted that the visit was to assess the impact of the World Bank
assisted programme -with member-countries of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) to make agriculture more sustainable and
productive.
Lauding various projects executed by WAAPP-FECA, Ayuba, who is also
the current Dean, College of Forestry and Fishery, University of
Agriculture, Makurdi avowed that the farmers were maximizing the
training WAAPP had giving them.
“They are expanding on their own; even if there is no WAAPP today,
there is no cause for alarm because they are doing what they are
supposed to do with very small capital: money is entering their pockets
in several ways.
She further encouraged the youths and other farmers to utilize the opportunities in the sector and become employers of labour.
Correspondents from the Guardian also reports that The delegation
also visited the Agricultural Research Outreach Centre (AROC) in Owode,
Ibulesoro, Eleyowo to inspect the fisheries, cassava value chain
opportunities; and the adopted School, Aquinas College, Akure, where the
Young Farmers Club are making money in agro-products.
The Candel Company Limited has rewarded farmers in the last stage of
its Be A Millionaire Promo, derived from the Cleanfarms project.
The Managing Director, Emmanuel Kattie expressed that the promo was
launched not only to keep the environment clean, safe and enhance
farmers’ welfare, but also to create excitement, enhance productivity,
efficiency and output for both farmers and trade partners.
“It’s a project designed to rid farms of herbicide bottles and
remnants of agrochemicals that pose significant health hazards to the
ecosystem,” he said.
Kattie said the promo which kicked off in May has rewarded 60 farmers with 48 generators and 12 Tricycles.
Winners of the grand finale draw for the generator sets and tricycles
were selected electronically from the six-geo political zones in
Nigeria while the N1,000,000 star prize was drawn randomly to give every
farmer an equal chance.
Also speaking the Founder and Chairman of the Candel Limited, Charles
Anudu said the company did the right thing by withdrawing the bottles
from users.
“We saw people using the empty bottles to store water and other
consumable things, which is harmful and we needed to destroy them
because they are harmful to mankind.”
Anudu posted that the only way to enforce it is by asking the farmers to return the bottles and get cash reward.
A Washington farmer has an unusual addition to her cattle herd.
It was an ordinary November day when Kari McKay went to check the
cows on her farm in eastern Washington. What she found when she got to
the pasture was anything but ordinary.
She had just weaned calves a few days before but noticed a small
animal in with the cattle. It wasn’t a calf that had snuck back in with
its mama.
It was a young deer, and he was getting a lot of attention and
licks on the nose from one cow, in particular. “I think someone might
be missing her baby, and someone else lost his mama,” McKay wrote on
Facebook on November 11, 2016. “We could probably all learn something
from these two right about now.”
She thought the deer’s appearance in her pasture was just a fluke,
but when he was still around a week later, she decided to give him a
name: Li’l Johnny Deere.
“I got pretty close to him today, until he got a
sniff of me and went out with the cows,” she wrote on November 15. “He
looks like he’s maybe a yearling and must have just gotten weaned from
his mama.” McKay started bringing her camera along to capture this story
as it unfolded.
A cold snap hit after that, and Johnny continued to find refuge with
the cows. “It has been cold and windy the past couple of days here, but
he’s pretty content with his herd and runs right to them if he feels
threatened in any way,” McKay wrote on November 18.
On November 22, Johnny met McKay’s dogs. They usually stay in the
truck while she checks cows, but when they saw the deer, they both took
off after him. One came back when he was called, but the other chased
after Johnny.
After she got her dog back, McKay went to water the cattle
and figured the deer was scared away for good. “As I was putting water
in the trough, all of the cows were migrating towards me,” she wrote. “I
looked back behind them and here came Li’l Johnny Deere on the run
right back to his cows. There is no way he’s going to stay out in that
field all alone without his cows.”
Winter Comes to Washington
December brought with it snow and cold, and a sign that the cows were
enjoying Johnny’s company as much as he was enjoying theirs.
When McKay
went to check the cows on December 2, they all came running and bucking
in excitement toward her pickup, thinking that snow on the ground meant
they would get some extra feed. “I wondered if Li’l Johnny, who is
usually hanging out just on the outside of the electric fence from the
cows, would notice that they had all left him,” she wrote.
“I looked off
into the distance and saw one cow straggling back, and there was Li’l
Johnny Deere running right with her. It was pretty cute!”
An Arctic front rolled through eastern Washington, bringing more snow
and single-digit temperatures. Johnny stayed with his cows, but McKay
thought their time together was nearly at an end. “Tomorrow is the day
to bring cows off the hay circle and home for the winter,” she wrote on
December 9.
“I will be curious to see if Li’l Johnny makes the 4-mile
trek down the road with his cows or not. I can’t imagine him staying out
in that field by himself all winter with nothing for shelter and no
other deer to pal around with. Let’s cross our fingers and pray that he
follows them home to their winter pasture; otherwise, it might be an
awfully lonely winter without his girls.”
Cattle-moving day came, and McKay said Johnny’s situation was
questionable at first. “He wasn’t quite sure that he wanted to leave the
pasture that he was comfortable being in, but after he realized that
the cows weren’t coming back, he decided to run and catch up with them
and tag along.”
By this time, Li’l Johnny Deere was becoming quite the Internet
sensation, with his posts garnering nearly 5,000 Facebook likes. “I've
never experienced anything like this before in my 47 years,” McKay wrote
on December 11. “Most of the deer in our area head for the breaks of
the river this time of year before the heavy winter months come.
Li’l
Johnny has obviously lost his deer friends, but has made his home in the
comfort of my cows. He made it to the winter pasture ground bucking and
playing part of the way, where there is plenty to eat and drink and
lots of shelter to get himself out of the blustery cold of winter. He
loves these cows and feels safe with them. He’s a wild animal and is
free to leave and go live his life at any time, but I’m hoping he’s here
to stay for the winter.”
Some of the people following Johnny’s story on Facebook wondered if
he posed a disease risk to the cattle. “I have contacted a few
veterinarians to ask if this would be an issue,” McKay says. “WSU and
others said there have been no known cases of diseases spreading from
deer to cows in the state of Washington, and that I shouldn’t need to
worry.”
Sharing Her Story
After graduating from high school in a class of seven kids, McKay
went to community college and eventually Eastern Washington University.
She became an elite marathon runner and ran in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic
trials. “I had a scholarship for running in college, so I used some of
the money that was set aside for me to go to college to buy some cows to
help support my running habit,” she says.
“My father was very
supportive, and I would go back to the farm to help when needed. When he
decided to retire from farming in 2004 and after I had run my last
race, I felt like I hade lived my dream for a while and felt it was only
fair to him to move back to the farm. I’m a single woman and am not
really interested in the wheat part of farming, so we turned that part
over to my brother-in-law. I kept my cows and bought out my father’s
cows.”
McKay enjoys telling her story through photography and social media. “It
is so rural here that I started taking pictures just for something to
do and posted them on Facebook,” she says. “Eventually, people started
asking me if I could take their family pictures and senior pictures, so
photography has become a second gig for me.
It doesn't pay much, but
it's fun. For the most part, I think people enjoy my pictures and my
posts. I try to share my life on Facebook because I don't think most
people understand what really goes into farming and ranching. I hope to
teach others that our food doesn't just come from the grocery store.”
Many people have encouraged McKay to write a children’s book about
Johnny. “I will write a book eventually and will use my own pictures,
but I can’t write a book when the story has only just started,” she
says.
“The best part of the story is yet to come in February if he
chooses to stick around, when the calves start hitting the ground. I’m
as excited as everyone else is to see how this whole story pans out.”
Meanwhile, his story will continue to be told on the Facebook page McKay created for Li'l Johnny.
“I didn't realize this little guy would become such an inspiration to
so many,” McKay says. “This little button buck came along during a time
when the world seemed so negative. Having something positive to look
forward to everyday not only made my day, but also made most of yours!”
No matter what happens with Johnny, McKay and the thousands of people
following her story on Facebook have been touched by his relationship
with the cows. “Animals can be different from one another but accepted
and loved just the same,” she says. “Just like the rest of us who are
looking for a safe place to land in life, Li’l Johnny has found his
place for now: with a herd of cows.”
See more of McKay's photos of the deer with the cows here
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announces that the Virus
Resistant Cassava for Africa Plus (VIRCA Plus) consortium of American,
Nigerian, Ugandan, and Kenyan institutions recently received a
five-year, $10.46 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to develop disease-resistant and nutritionally-enhanced
cassava varieties to improve the livelihoods and health status of
African farm families.
Cassava is an important food and cash crop for small-holder farmers in
Africa. It is the second most important staple food crop after maize in
sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately one-third of the population relies on
its starchy tuberous roots for over 50 percent of their daily caloric
intake. It grows well in conditions of drought and low soil fertility
prevalent in many African countries. However, plant viral diseases can
destroy up to 100 percent of a cassava crop yield, threatening
livelihoods and leading to hunger. Although it is an excellent source of
calories, cassava does not contain significant levels of key nutrients
to meet minimum daily requirements, especially for women and children.
The VIRCA Plus collaboration will address these challenges by developing
and delivering two products. The first will be East African cassava
varieties with resistance to both Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and
Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD). The second will be a Nigerian
cassava variety with elevated levels of iron and zinc for improved
nutrition, as well as disease resistance.
VIRCA Plus builds on the success of two predecessor projects. The VIRCA
project successfully developed strong and stable resistance to CBSD in
cassava, validated over four field trials and multiple cropping cycles
in Kenya and Uganda. The BioCassava Plus project succeeded in developing
and testing cassava plants that accumulated greater than 10 times more
iron and zinc than comparable varieties. Both minerals are retained
after processing into common foodstuffs at levels that could provide
40-70 percent of the Estimated Average Requirement for vulnerable women
and children.
"By combining capacities and successes of the two predecessor projects,
VIRCA Plus is poised to make important strides in improving agricultural
productivity for farmers and enhancing nutrition for smallholder
households in East and West Africa," said Nigel Taylor, Ph.D., Dorothy
J. King Distinguished Investigator and Senior Research Scientist at the
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and the principal investigator for
VIRCA Plus.
Partner institutes: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St.
Louis, MO, USA; the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) in
Nigeria; the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI)/
National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) and the Science
Foundation for Livelihoods and Development (SCIFODE) in Uganda; the
Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the
ISAAA AfriCenter in Kenya; and the International Institute for Tropical
Agriculture (IITA)in Nigeria.
About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a
not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human
condition through plant science.
Research aims to feed the hungry and
improve human health, preserve and renew the environment and position
the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science.
The Center's
work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many
sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department
of Energy, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
U.S. Agency for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates
and Howard G. Buffett Foundations.
Source: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center news release
The Bank of Industry (BoI) has signed a
deal with three international development partners for the development
of the country’s agricultural sector.
The pact with GIZ and DFID will aid lending of up to N10 billion to small and medium enterprises in the agricultural sector.
Speaking at the signing of a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) in Abuja, acting Managing Director, BoI, Mr.
Waheed Olagunju said the agreement was a testimony to the bank’s support
to the development of the agriculture sector.
According to him, the bank’s passion for
the sector was borne out of the conviction that it holds the key to the
diversification of the nation’s economy at a time of dwindling oil
revenue.
He said based on the agreement, the bank
would provide up to N10 billion exclusively for the acquisition of
agro-equipment by either agricultural service providers or well
established farmers.
According to him, the latest
intervention to the sector was the largest the bank had earmarked for
any product programme, noting that based on the pact, the amount would
be repaid within a five year period by beneficiaries at a nine per cent
interest rate.
He said based on the agreement, micro
enterprises would be able to access up to N10 million; while SMEs would
access between N10 million and N50 million while medium scale
entrepreneurs could access above N50 million but not exceeding N500
million.
Olagunju added: “In recognition of the
catalytic role that agro-processing plays in boosting good production,
BoI in collaboration with development partners have designed a program
to provide finance for agro-equipment service providers and well
established farmers as well.
“It is envisaged that with better access
to credit to fund acquisition of agro-equipment, there will be improved
efficiency and production output in the agricultural sector.
“A N10 billion fund has been earmarked
for the acquisition of agro equipment and it is the largest amount of
money that the bank has earmarked for any program and this is a
testimony to the importance of agro mechanization in economic
development of Nigeria.”
He said the programme will enable the bank create 10,000 direct jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs within the targeted period
