THIRSTY CROPS RUN A TEMP

Kendall DeJonge’s mission is to take plants’ temperatures. But the crops, like corn, that he’s working with don’t have to open up and say, “ahh.” Instead, DeJonge employs an infrared radiometric thermometer (IRT). It is a simple point-and-detect temperature detection tool that you can own.

The USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) engineer is refining a simple way you can use IRT readings to pinpoint when a crop needs to be irrigated.

CREATING A SIMPLE CALCULATION

DeJonge is basing his work on research that confirms thirsty plants get hot. So a simple method of taking crop canopy temperatures could be a boon to farmers. Also, DeJonge points out, IRTs could be placed on posts in fields, center pivot irrigation systems, or even on a drone to gather temperature readings on crops.  

Scientists can interpret the IRT readings by using one of several indicators, including the commonly used crop water stress index (CWSI). 

Developed by ARS scientists in the early 1980s, the CWSI requires knowing air temperatures and humidity levels in addition to crop canopy temperature to calculate a vapor pressure deficit. Although accurate, CWSI is fairly technical to use.

DeJonge and his team of researchers have developed two new indices that are simpler to use than CWSI. These formulations include the degrees above nonstressed (DANS) index and the degrees above critical temperature (DACT) index.

The team is monitoring soil water levels and crop water use in fields fully to partially irrigated using IRT. They have found that DANS and DACT were just as effective as CWSI at determining water stress. 

Not only are both calculations simpler to employ, but also crop canopy temperatures need to be taken just once a day to be accurate. 

An online search found that an IRT with a handheld meter retails for between $600 and $700. Individual sensors that would be put on center pivots retail for $600 to $650.

DeJonge is now working on refining the calculations to establish water needs of specific crops under different scenarios. With his crop-water coefficient data, you could use handheld or drone-mounted IRTs to calculate water needs over extensive areas.

Click here to find more details about DeJonge’s research.

Source: Successful Farming 

FINDING THE BLUE SKY IN AGRICULTURE

WE MAY BE FACING STIFF WINDS, BUT OPPORTUNITIES FLY THROUGH AGRICULTURE IN 2017

It’s not reported much, but there is blue sky in agriculture, and we want to explore it.

But first, have you heard of this saying?

The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. Rick Hanson, a psychologist and author, writes about taking in the good. “People will work much harder to avoid losing $100 than they will work to gain the same amount of money.” He adds, “Painful experiences are much more memorable than pleasurable ones.”

Farmers are no different. They can tell you exactly what year they grew their farm’s worst crop, the lowest price they ever took for corn or soybeans, or where they were when the broker called and asked for more margin money for their futures trading account.

There is hope for farmers in Hanson’s message. 

Here’s how to “take in the good” in three simple steps.

1. Look for good facts and then turn them into good experiences.
2. Really enjoy the experience. Stay with it for 30 seconds without getting distracted.
3. Intend and sense that the good experience is sinking into you.

We want to help you take in the blue sky for agriculture in 2017.

After sinking prices in nearly every grain and livestock market in 2016, economists see a return to higher ground.

“The heavy red ink for cattle operations could be behind us, and profits are projected to return to the hog market this spring,” says Lee Schulz, Iowa State University Extension economist. 

Some grain analysts and market watchers see record global demand as poised to dwindle record supplies and to offer opportunities for farmers to sell at profitable levels in mid-2017.

There’s more blue sky. Now may be the time to buy good, used equipment. The outlook for fertilizer prices and cash rent rates point in favor of savings for farmers.

- Mike McGinnis

LOWER CASH RENTS

Growers looking for some positive news on the cost side can take heart knowing that, on average at least, cash rents are going down along with the price of commodities. 

Agricultural land rents – both irrigated and non-irrigated – are projected to fall 6% year over year in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The average value of cropland in the U.S. will fall about 1% to $4,090 an acre, the first decline in seven years, the agency reports. 

The downturn is a marked reversal from gains the past decade when cropland values doubled and cash rents jumped 71%. The falling cost of land – among the only decliners since many other inputs including seed and fertilizer stand fast or rise – likely will continue until crop prices begin to rise, says Jeff Voeks, a market adviser at Stewart Peterson Brokerage Solutions. 

“Cash rent prices will edge lower,” Voeks tells Successful Farming magazine. “To say they’ll fall is overstating it a bit, but I think they’ll continue to eke a little bit lower.” 

While rents are down year over year, corn prices have tumbled about 10% and wheat futures are off by about 20%. Soybean prices are up from last year, but only because they rebounded in the first half of 2016 on weather worries that never materialized. 

Lower rents will help out younger farmers, especially small stakeholders who are trying to expand their holdings or to get started in the industry, says Larry Glenn, an analyst at Prime Ag in Quinter, Kansas. While conventional wisdom would say that now isn’t a good time for a young farmer to jump into the industry, it’s possible that getting in now when rents are low could pay dividends in the future. 

Even large bank- and corporation-owned farms will likely be forced to reduce rents due to extremely low crop prices, though probably not as drastically as small farmer- or family-owned landholders, he says. 

“Big corporate farms are going to want to stay up as high as they can,” Glenn says. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” however, if larger banks or corporations that own farms make adjustments based on the price of grains and soybeans, he says. 

Cash rent prices probably will continue to fall into next year. To offset declining or stagnant crop prices, growers are reportedly saying they’re going to cut back on corn and bean planting, Voeks says. This will only work if they hold true to their word, he says. 

Still, it will take a while to work through the glut of several years’ worth of high yields, which could mean an extended period of low rental prices. 

“Downward pressures likely are being placed on rents,” says Gary D. Schnitkey, a professor in the department of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois. “Therefore, it is likely that average rents in 2017 will be lower than those for 2016.”

Now is the time in agriculture when farmers should be looking for opportunities, according to Michael Boehlje, Purdue University economist. 

- Tony Dreibus

CHEAPER IRON

 Certainly one of the biggest silver linings in the storm clouds of a depressed farm economy has been the significant savings being offered on late-model, and low-hour machinery. 

Values on high-horsepower tractors, four-wheel drives, combines, self-propelled sprayers, and grain carts are one quarter to one third less than in 2012. 

“I’ve never seen opportunities to buy large machinery at such competitive prices as exist today,” says Jeremy Knuth of Heritage Power, a John Deere dealership out of Baldwin City, Kansas. 

“We are looking to move out built-up inventories, and we are willing to work hard to make a transaction work for an individual farmer’s situation,” Knuth says.

Another hallmark of this massive inventory of late-model machinery is that most of the equipment for sale carries unprecedented low hours. It is not uncommon to uncover a 2014 model year 300-plus-hp. tractor for sale with fewer than 500 hours. 

"Our C-O-P is near $3 with seed down $15 and fertility down $25 per acre." – Central Indiana Farmer

In a recent price comparison of tractors available on dealers’ lots, Successful Farming magazine identified 42 high-horsepower tractors of various makes with fewer than 400 hours. It is not unusual to find 3-year-old machines with only 150 hours. This same situation is well stated in Class 7 and larger combines, as well. 

The poster child of like-new large machinery is the grain cart. A search of John Deere’s dealer website, machinefinder.com, finds 252 large (1,000-plus-bushel) grain carts for sale that are 3 years old or younger. Even more amazing is the number of brand-new carts that are 2, 3, and even 4 years old still sitting on dealers’ lots. For a detailed analysis of large machinery price trends, refer to the December issue of Successful Farming magazine on pages 32-36.

There is another aspect that accentuates the unprecedented value of large and late-model machinery. Manufacturers have armed dealers with an array of financing plans to entice buyers. 

“Whether it’s a certified preowned (CPO) program or low- or no-interest financing, dealers are in a position to reward farmers for buying in ways not available before,” observes Nate Weinkauf of Case IH. These programs commonly inspect used equipment, often making necessary repairs and improvements before going on used lots. In addition, a dealer can extend warranty coverage of a used machine for up to three years.

While it’s not necessarily new, you will find it far easier to lease large and late-model machinery than in the past. 

“It’s a financing option that appeals to certain farmers who are trying to minimize debt,” points out Brad Tolbert of John Deere.

Though it may be stating the obvious, leasing large and late-model machinery is far more affordable than in the past because the base value of the leased machine is lower.

However, as Rick Vacha of Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers warns, don’t wait to pull the trigger on such good deals. “We are already seeing once-large inventories of such combines as the Deere S680 dry up, which is driving up their auction values,” he says. “I certainly expect the same to happen to high-horsepower tractors this winter.”

- Dave Mowitz

INPUT COSTS VARY 

Good news: Seed prices have remained fairly steady from 2016 going into 2017.

Bad news: That steadiness doesn’t match the dip in corn and soybean prices from last summer’s spike.  

“The price of some products has gone up; some have gone down. Overall, we are pretty flat from where we were in the past year,” says Jeff Hartz, director of marketing for Wyffels Hybrids. 

"We'll pay off a huge portion of our equipment debt in 2016 and 2017." – Central Indiana Farmer

The decline in commodity prices has prompted farmers to economy-shop for seed.  

“We have started to see growers become more sensitive to the price of seed and trade down,” says Chuck Lee, head of seed product marketing for Syngenta Seeds. “They are choosing hybrids that have a lower number of traits. Within the same trait class, we have also seen a trend of growers moving into picking the lowest-priced hybrids.”

Cutting traits is a way to save money. Remember, though, that pests such as corn rootworm and European corn borer (ECB) still lurk. 

“Farmers have to be careful that they don’t get into a situation that can backfire,” says Hartz. “We saw some non-GMO fields in eastern Iowa that had an issue with corn borer. We saw that in 2015, too, when corn borer cost farmers 30 to 40 bushels per acre in yield.”

FERTILIZER

More good news is that prices for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) plunged to their lowest since 2007 two to three months ago, says David Asbridge, president and senior economist for NPK Fertilizer Advisory Services. 

“We have had way too much capacity across the board with N, P, and K, but they (manufacturers) are beginning to manage it somewhat,” he says. 

"We marketed 1/3 of our 2016 corn production above $4 per bushel." – SW Kansas Farmer

Asbridge says prices will likely remain steady through winter and start rising in March through the end of spring. This coincides with heavy fertilizer use during and shortly after planting. Prices will then drift lower before rising again (albeit at a lower level than in spring) in the fall.  

“At this point, because of overwhelming capacity, we don’t see any big price hike,” he says.

Except . . .

One factor that’s changing the N market is the opening of three large-scale N plants, the first to be built in the U.S. since the 1960s. Last year, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. opened a urea/urea ammonium nitrate (UAN)/anhydrous ammonia plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. This firm has expanded a new ammonia plant, followed by a urea synthesis and granulation plant at Port Neal near Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. It wasn’t open at press time but is expected to open any day. Iowa Fertilizer is also building a new anhydrous ammonia/urea/UAN plant in Wever, Iowa, expected to open in mid-February, says Asbridge. 

“If for whatever reason that Wever plant doesn’t open up in mid-February, there could be issues with procurement, particularly urea and also UAN,” he says. That’s why Asbridge is recommending to clients they lock in about 40% to 45% of anticipated urea and UAN needs soon. Anhydrous ammonia supplies should be adequate, he says. 

K AND P

Industry overexpansion has throttled down the potash market, with about one half of the Canadian industry shut down, says Asbridge. This – along with a fall run on potash – helped perk up K prices a bit. 

However, the fall run will take some of the pressure off the spring market, he says. 

Mosaic, the biggest U.S. phosphate producer, is reversing its latest slowdown in production. 

Thus, Asbridge is recommending his clients to lock up one third of their phosphate and potash needs by the end of January. 

- Gil Gullickson

Source: Successful Farming

CBN/Sokoto to spend N1.12bn on 2017 Anchor Borrowers Wheat Farming

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Sokoto State Government is set to complete the spending of over N1.12 billion on the Anchor Borrowers Wheat Farming Programme in February 2017. This was revealed by the Chairman of the Framework Committee on Agricultural Development, Sokoto state, Chiso Abdullahi.

Abdullahi also informed the News Agency of Nigeria that out of the amount, the CBN contributed about N990 million, while the state government provided over N125 million including wheat seeds.

”The state government had since distributed over 1500 bags of wheat seeds free to the farmers across the state. In the same vein, the state government had sold additional 2,094 bags of wheat seeds to the farmers, with each bag bought at N35,000 and sold at N18,219”, he said.

Speaking further, he said about 4,305 farmers are beneficiaries of this scheme that commenced November 2016 and will end in the first week of February 2017.

”The government had also given assorted fertilisers to the farmers at highly subsidised rates as well as other farm inputs,” he said.

The chairman further said that the farmers had been fully trained, while adequate extension officers were provided for them, with each farmer billed to get a package of N235,000 in cash and/or kind.

Speaking on the efforts of the both the CBN and the state government, he stated that both parties have made adequate arrangements provide all the logistics needed for the success of the programme.

Abdullahi, who is also a former deputy Governor of the state, also disclosed that the state government has also concluded arrangements to establish a mini-tomatoes paste production company in the state.

According to him; “all these are being done in the bid to have more value addition, reduce poverty and unemployment, curb post-harvest losses and boost food security in the state”.

Bank of Agric on Food security, To modify policies to lure graduates, women

Bank of Agriculture (BOA) has said its programmes for young graduates and women would be more flexible and accessible with a view to getting them involved in agricultural production.

To this end, the bank is set to revamp some of its youth-based programmes, one of which is its Youth in Agriculture Development in Nigeria (YAN) programme. The YAN programme presently attracts low interest rates as beneficiaries can now access up to N1m agric loans for a start, and also take even more instantly on repayment. A similar procedure which also applies to the women in agriculture loan scheme.

Disclosing this in Ibadan, at a workshop organized by the bank, the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Alhaji Mohammed Adamu Sambo challenged the youth in the Niger Delta region to avail themselves of the programmes targeted at the youths. This he said would be instrumental to them accessing agric loans of a minimum of up to N1million, which would serve as a massive boost to their fish farming entrepreneurial ventures.

Sambo, who was represented by the South West Zonal Manager, Idiat Titilayo Folorunsho, announced the BOA’s commitment to positively change the orientation of Nigerians towards agricultural development.

Mrs. Folorunsho, while commenting on the objectives of the workshop, was quick to explain that it was geared upbraiding the bank’s staff on existing realities and modern trends in agricultural banking such as acquiring knowledge on the fundamental principles of banking, risk identity and control measures, customer care techniques, and ICT for customer care.

Majority of Nigerians eat Poison – Ogbeh

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh has expressed that majority of Nigerians are not eating well, but rather feed on poison.

Ogbeh who revealed this at the re-inauguration of an Inter-Ministerial Agricultural/Nutrition Working Group yesterday in Abuja, noted that there were deficiencies in most Nigerian diets.

“There is crisis in Nigerian food sector because there is a great deal of self-poison in our diet. Just yesterday, I was talking with the Ministers of Science and Technology as well as Health about a great deal of metal poisoning in our food and the ingestion of dioxin through plastic pathogens among other things” He said.

While dwelling extensively on the citizenry’s feeding habit, Ogbeh said many Nigerians prefer swallow foods like yam, cassava, sorghum, maize among others which are injurious to health.

 “How do we persuade people to take more of fruits as against the carbohydrate they are used to? For instance, it is an insult in some villages when you tell an elderly man to take banana instead of the pounded yam he is used to. That means most Nigerians are not eating well.” He said.

The minister who expressed concern that children do not have access to egg, chicken or beans, resulting in 37 per cent of malnourished children nationwide,  asserted that there is need to give children balanced diet during the first five years to enable their brains develop well.

The Minister however charged the committee to come up with the right formula for the country to improve its nutrition deficiencies, adding that the ministry of Agriculture was ready to provide the needed resources and collaborate with the ministries of Health, Women Affairs, Science and Technology and other agencies to boost the health of Nigerians.

MANAGING FOR LEAN TIMES

When Travis and Dana Dagman moved home in 2011 to take over the family farm near Enderlin, North Dakota, crop prices were high and profit margins were wide. 

“When we first started out, it was hard to set up a profit-and-loss projection that didn’t look profitable,” says Travis. “It was easy to make money then. At today’s low prices, it’s gotten to be a challenge to make a profit-and-loss projection work out on the positive side.”

As beginning farmers with limited available capital at their start-up, the Dagmans fortunately avoided incurring heavy debt for purchasing land and new equipment. Now, with today’s marginal to nonexistent profit margins, they don’t have big debt payments to service.

Like other farmers, they do have high operating costs to manage while producing their crops of spring wheat, winter wheat, barley, soybeans, and corn. “Limiting our production expenses is a critical way we’ve tried to make our profit projections come out on the positive side,” says Travis.

Following are the management tactics the Dagmans are using to trim down expenses or to increase economic efficiencies on their 2,500-acre farm:

• Limit custom hiring of services. “We’ve tried to eliminate a lot of hiring of custom services and custom use of machinery,” says Travis. “For instance, by buying a sprayer, we’ve been able to apply herbicide ourselves.
  We don’t have to pay $7 or $8 an acre for custom spraying. By investing in good, used equipment to do the work, we get equity back for the money we spend.” The same goes for fertilizer applications. When split-applying nitrogen to corn, for example, Dana does the work with a John Deere 4440 tractor pulling a narrow-track fertilizer spreader. “The old tractor is nimble, and it’s easy to drive inside the corn rows,” Travis says.
• Shop for reasonably priced chemical. By applying their own herbicide, the Dagmans are able to shop around for effective products more reasonably priced than name-brand chemicals. Price differences can amount to a savings of as much as $5 an acre or more.
• Be cautious of add-on products. “It seems like some company is always coming along selling an add-on product that it claims will add 2 to 5 bushels per acre in yield, for instance,” says Travis. “There’s a slew of these products out there, and it’s easy to get caught up in their claims. They may cost $10 an acre, but their effectiveness is not necessarily proven.” Before buying a product unfamiliar to them, the Dagmans do their own research. “I won’t buy any new product unless I can find a respected university study that has proven its effectiveness,” says Travis.

• Make conservative nitrogen applications. The Dagmans shoot for a modest yield goal when purchasing and applying N. In corn, for instance, they aim for a 160-bushel average yield, which reflects their realistic appraisal of yield potential based on soil type, historic annual precipitation, and other growing conditions on their farm. By split-applying modest amounts of N, they hope to get the most effective use of N. “We hope to reduce our potential fertilizer losses due to weather conditions,” says Travis. “If we happen to get a lot of rain, the excess rain can push the N down below the roots or lead to the loss of the N through runoff and evaporation.”
• Provide their own labor. Aside from capable part-time help when needed from a retired individual, the Dagmans provide all their own labor. Travis works full time on the farm in spring, summer, and fall. Dana flexes in and out of farm tasks while she also cares full time for their three sons. “The farm is our bread and butter,” says Travis. “When everybody pitches in, it goes a long way in making things more efficient and helping to save some money.”
• Expand grain storage. By expanding their grain-storage facilities, the Dagmans have increased profit potential by marketing crops at times of the year when prices tend to be strongest.
  “The extra storage also helps to cut down on our harvest workload,” says Travis. “When everyone is combining, the truck lines are long at the elevators. If we hauled all of our crops to town and waited in line, we’d probably need another truck and another driver.”
• Control family living costs. A cost-savings benefit to the young Dagmans is their opportunity to live rent-free in the farm home of Travis’ parents, who have moved away from the farm.
  “Not having a house payment is helpful, and we do look after the house and the yard, which my parents appreciate,” says Travis. 
  “Dana and I are on the same page when it comes to spending money. We’ve saved money, for instance, by spending very little on recreation. We have no boat, no motorcycle, no lake home, and when we do take a vacation, it’s a modest one. The savings lets us direct more of our money into the farming operation,” he says.
  The Dagmans draw relaxation and enjoyment from their joint participation in farm-advocacy groups such as Farm Bureau and the North Dakota Soybean Council.
  Despite the lean times facing all farmers, they’re glad they exchanged high-paying jobs and city life for their present life on the farm.
  “It appealed to us to raise our kids on a farm and in a small town,” says Travis. “We both wanted to get involved in work that was more fulfilling. We’re working together at building our dream. Because of that, our farm life is bigger than just a job. That’s what makes it fun.”

MOST COSTS FALL INTO FOUR AREAS

While price and production are big players in profitability, cost-cutting strategies play a big role, too.

“Costs are a little more under our control than are price and weather,” says Travis’ father, Virgil Dagman, who is also a longtime farmer and instructor for North Dakota Farm Management (NDFM).

Shaving spending from one of the four major areas of production expense can save a significant amount. 

“The four biggest groups of expenses account for 50% to 55% of total expenses,” says Virgil who analyzes financial records for NDFM participants. The four largest cost categories are land rent, seed, fertilizer, and chemical. 

“Shaving 10% off one of these areas of costs would save more money than shaving costs off some other, lesser areas of expense,” says Virgil.

“What works for one farm may not work for another,” he adds. “Every farm is different; every situation is different.”

DRY WEATHER SPEEDS UP SOYBEAN HARVEST IN BRAZIL

Long queues of trucks loaded with soybeans have been forming in front of elevators in the heart of Brazil's grain belt this week, a sure sign the harvest is speeding up and will soon pour an expected record volume of the oilseed into the market.

Brazil, the world's largest soybean exporter, started harvesting its 2016/17 crop around Christmas, earlier than in previous seasons. Planting started in late September, earlier than usual, on the back of excellent wet weather conditions.

Still, the dry weather that now boosts harvesting conditions in mature fields also raises concerns among farmers about yields in areas where pods are still developing.

"We have favorable weather for harvest ... but fields sowed later are now suffering with insufficient rains," said Gladir Tomazelli, head of local farmers association in Campo Verde, in the state of Mato Grosso.

Some farms have not gotten a single drop of rain in two weeks, he said.

Any eventual loss is not yet factored into current crop forecasts, though.

Earlier this week, Brazil's official crop agency Conab estimated national soybean production at a record 103.8 million tonnes, up 1.3 million tonnes from the December report, mostly supported by ideal conditions around the country. Mato Grosso's forecast increased by about 150,000 tonnes.

So far, the 2016/17 crop is in much better shape than 2015/16, when irregular rains influenced by the El Niño phenomenon frustrated an expected harvest of more than 100 million tonnes.

In the end, production was 95.4 million tonnes.

In Sorriso, Brazil's largest soybean county, located in northern Mato Grosso, dry and hot weather is also helping farmers to expedite harvest.

"There is a lot of work going on ... Some fields were supposed to be harvested only next week, but the sun accelerated the drying process," farmer Laércio Lenz told Reuters on the phone from inside his combine as he harvested on his farm.

Rains forecast for next week are helping to ease some farmers' concerns.

The weather forecasting firm Somar Meteorologia said Wednesday that precipitation will return to Mato Grosso next week, especially in the center and northern areas of the state.

Intermittent showers are expected, which should allow the soil to keep its moisture but quickly dry enough to allow harvesting to continue. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)

FG INAUGURATES AGRIC, NUTRITION INTER-MINISTERIAL WORKING GROUP

The Federal Government through the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh on Thursday inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Agriculture and Nutrition.

Chief Ogbeh at the inauguration stressed the need for improved agriculture and nutrition, saying” food is the best medicine but can also be the worst poison”

According to Chief Ogbeh, ” We also have to deal with the issue of self poison, so it’s important to know what to eat otherwise,we simply ingest poison”.

The Minister further  decried the situation where children have no access to milk,beaf, Chicken and basic proteins, Adding that “when they lack this,it means there is a problem.”

Chief Ogbeh stressed that “The assignment before Group   is a very serious one,noting that the best time to develop a child’s brain is between ages of 1-5 so as not to have mentally stunted children.

He maintained that now that we are attaining self sufficiency in rice, we should adopt the Japan model and not be growing rice from the same parcel of the land.”if we do we will be increasing the arsenic in crop which is harmful to humans.”

Presenting the Group to the Minister earlier, Director of Agriculture in the Ministry, Dr Amin Mohammed Babandi said “Members of the committee are culled from Ministries of Water Resources, Health, Education, Budget and National Planning, Women Affairs, Environment respectively as well as from Development Partners, Agencies and the Nigeria Agribusiness group.”

The  major objective of the Working Group is to increase and sustain the availability, access, affordability and consumption of nutritious and diverse foods among vulnerable groups in Nigeria to reduce stunting, micro nutrients deficiencies , over weight and obesity” he said.

He added that “It is expected that the activities of the group will lead to the implementation of programmes that would result and  improve access to foods through improved processing,storage and preservation along the food value chain.”

The objectives would further “Diversify household for food production resulting in the consumption of adequate diets and nutrition,increase the resilience and social protection of the Working Group, context appropriate nutrition research and adequate and appropriate nutrition information and surveillance systems,improve capacity within government to address food and nutrition, security problems and establishment of sustainable nutrition and evaluation systems in Nigeria” he said

SWAS 2016 Fallout: Ambode to lead charge for regional Agric integration

Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode has expressed readiness to integrate the six States in the South West region into its the food security drive with a view to addressing the demand and supply deficit for the overall benefit of the people.

The Governor expressed the need for a South Western inter-state cooporation in Agriculture during the courtesy visit by the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II at Lagos House, Ikeja.

Ambode revealed that his Government joined the Oodua Investment Group in addition to the acquisition of land in Ogun and Oyo States for agricultural purposes, as part of efforts to scale up the economic integration of the South West States as well as the cultural heritage of the region.

“I believe strongly that the test case of what we are trying to do about food security in Lagos State is just more or less like an elixir for what it should be across the western region and on that note, we want to say that we have already acquired land in Ogun and Oyo States but what is imperative for us to move forward now is that we would integrate all other Southwestern States into the food security mechanism of demand and supply for us to move forward,” he said.

Speaking further “Everything Ooni has said on food security is in consonance with our belief and we believe that if we move forward, Nigeria will also move foward. The future is brighter as we see it and we will not relent to ensure that our traditional values and culture are enhanced further than what it is presently.”

Meanwhile, Oba Ogunwunsi who had paid a visit to identify with the developmental achievements of Governor Ambode and to seek ways of partnership especially in the area of food security also commended the Governor’s agenda.

Speaking on partnership on food security, the monarch said it was important for the South West States to explore partnership for the benefit of its people.

According to him “We can partner in respect of food security. In Osun State, we have land for agriculture and same in Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti States”.

He also affirmed that the various states of the South West could achieve great success through the integration.

“You will not believe that 80 per cent of all the products from those farmlands are wasted; it is only about 20 per cent that get to the metropolis of Lagos for consumption. Now imagine, if we can just synchronise and work together on how to take food security to another level,” the Ooni said.

In a related development, stakeholders in the agricultural sector have lauded the plans of the Lagos State Government for regional integration into its food security drive, noting that it rides on the crest wave of the South West Agric Summit (SWAS 2016) – a regional Agriculture Summit that held in October 2016, in the ancient city of Ibadan. 

The theme of SWAS 2016 which was tagged; “Achieving an Agro-Powered Regional Economy”, had witnessed the attendance of stakeholders from both the public and private sectors who had unanimously agreed on the need to chart a new course of collaboration, in pursuance of a collective effort for agricultural development in the region and the country at large.

AgroNigeria recalls that the Chief Executive Officer, Foremost Development Service Limited, Fatai Afolabi, had canvassed for a regional approach to food production which was also accepted by the forum.

NSCDC apprehends 7 suspects for Soyabeans theft in Taraba

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Taraba on Wednesday arrested seven suspects for stealing 36 bags of Soyabeans in various communities in Gassol Council Area of the State.

The suspects are: Osama Adama,33, Mohammed Inusa, 35, Sani Dabo, 40, Danjuma Suleiman, 30, Mukawo Abdullahi, 28, Laulo Sale,27, and Abdulkadir Umar,68.

The State Commandant of the Corps, Mr Kamilu Isah, told newsmen in Jalingo, the state capital, that the suspects were arrested after the body received an intelligence report.

According to Isah, the syndicate specialises in threatening farmers with attacks in the aim of making the farmers desert their farms in fear so that they can steal the produce therein.

He identified Umar as the buyer of the bags of Soyabeans which were stolen from Nanguru, Kurukuru, Burnun ,Maigamu and Oga villages in the area.

He said investigation revealed that Umar bought the bags of the Soyabeans at the rate of N369,000.

“These men have continuously caused crisis in the state by attacking Tiv communities during harvest season just to drive the farmers away and steal their produce.

“Needless to mention that so many people have died as a result of their activities and a lot of destruction done,” he said.

Isah said the command got wind of their tactics and extended its surveillance to the remote areas where they were arrested.

He called on the Taraba State government to constitute and empower a joint task force to patrol the hinterlands to curb the menace.

Mr Aondoakura Agim, one of the affected framers, commended the efforts of the NSCDC, urging other security operatives to also extend their surveillance to the rural areas.