The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Bird flu: poultry farmers urge govt to hasten compensation

    Bird flu: poultry farmers urge govt to hasten compensation

    Bird Flu Affected Farmers Association has called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the payment of compensation to members, who were affected by the disease outbreak in 2015, 2016 and this year.

    As part of measures to re-launch production, poultry farmers demanded compensation from the government for losses incurred during the avian flu scourge in the country.

    According to the association, some farmers are waiting to access the government’s compensation for their birds destroyed, after they were found to be infected by avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.

    In a statement by their representative, Oche David  Okpe, the association said, however,  that  some farmers in the 2015 batch have been compensated.

    The association added: ”Over 45 per cent of the 2015 affected farms and 2016 and 2017 are yet to be compensated,” stating that some of them have not been able to restock because their livelihood was completely shut down following  the disease.

    Early this year,  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh assured poultry farmers of the Federal Government’s readiness to compensate those affected by the bird flu outbreak.

    He said although the computed amount was quite huge, the Federal Government was working out modalities on how to settle the farmers.

    “We have not compensated any farmer in the last one year because we have no money. The last compensation they were paid was a donation from the World Bank. I lost a lot of chickens, too.

    “We are trying to find money to pay them. So, it was a disaster. We can actually prevent Avian Flu in poultry through biosecurity measures in farms. Many farmers are very careless. Sometimes, the human being is a bigger transporter of diseases into the poultry farm than chicken.

    ”Make sure people don’t walk into your farm anyhow, a farmer from another farm don’t enter your farms, the feed sacks you use are not reused. There was an outbreak in Kano about two months ago, but it has been contained. So, somehow, we are limiting the outbreak of the disease. We have to find money to pay those who lost chickens but the sums are huge,”he said.

    He continued: “If we have to pay for all the chickens, we may be talking of something in the neighbourhood of six or seven billion (naira) in many states, especially around Kano and Kaduna. People were moving chickens all over the place without checking and some of the hatcheries are very dirty, so, other diseases have to come in.”

  • 1.2b birds consumed yearly, says expert

    1.2b birds consumed yearly, says expert

    Approximately 1. 2 billion birds are consumed yearly in Nigeria, an expert, Alaba Yunusa, has said.

    Speaking at Awe, Oyo State, during a tour of Amo Group  Farms, Data Analyst and Farmer  Satisfaction Representative (FSR), natnuPreneur broiler outgrower scheme, Yunusa  said only 30 per cent of the chicken consumed in the country are produced locally.

    He  said there was a huge market for chicken production and supply, with smuggled ones covering a consumption deficit of about 70 per cent.

    Explaining that there is massive opportunity for farmer’s profitability in poultry farming under natnuPreneur, Yunusa said: “Our assumption is that if 10 per cent  of 170 million Nigerians consume six  packs of chicken a month, a total of 1,224,000,000  pieces of chicken would have been consumed in 12 months.“

    His words: “From a retail perspective, a piece of chicken average sales price is N1,000. So, N1,000 multiplied by 1,224,000,000 will give us a value of about  1.224 trillion. Now, the question is how much of this money is getting to our farmers? This is one question natnuPreneur seeks to give positive answers to. We want to ensure that a good chunk of that figure gets into the pocket of poultry farmers through a reliable off-taking arrangement, effective poultry management trainings and capacity building.”

    He said his organisation introduced natnuPreneur project  to  increase the competitiveness of domestic production and processing of poultry meat and eggs, adding that the objective of the programme is to investigate key factors at the production stage and to showcase more efficient methods of production to increase profitability and attract more investment into the poultry sector.

    “Between 2014 and 2017, the programme has onboarded 1,156 farmers under different categories and clusters; off taken 4,348,640 birds; and paid out N4.352billion to famers.”

    The record, he revealed, has drawn the attention of various financial institutions,  such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Sterling Bank, Heritage Bank and others, to partner natnuPreneur and support its famers.

    “Also, because of their well thought out scientific process for broiler farming, natnuPreneur farmers have the ability to do six cycles yearly with mortality rate as low as four per cent.”

    He said: “To ensure farmer profitability, we have developed and tested our processes and have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to guide our farmers on effective poultry farming. We’ve also developed a detailed economic model for our farmers – a net profit calculator, which guards against pilfer, wastage and fraud. We have also developed a Buy Back Price equation to ensure profitability, created a database that is searchable across various parameters, and have designed an effective customer satisfaction centre for support services.

    “The scheme has the potential of providing employment for over two million Nigerians, within the poultry value chain-feed mills, hatchery, logistics and transportation, chicken processing, chicken distribution and retailing.”

    Group Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Albert Begerano,  said natnuPreneur programme has thrived because of its backbones such as Amo Farm, which produces about 1,900,000 day olds weekly, with broiler chicks being 800,000.

    The integrated plant, which has storage capacity for 500 metric tonnes of feeds and maize, produces between 600 to 1,000 tonnes of feeds daily.

    And  its natnudO foods, where off taken birds are slaughtered and packaged, Begerano  said   produces 30,000 frozen chickens daily in the West, 10,000 in the North and 15,000 in the East, totaling 55,000 birds daily.

    The plant also provides                                                                                                                                                facilities for storage and preservation such as  blast freezers and cold rooms that could take over 600 tonnes of frozen chicken in the west alone.

  • High yield of maize in 2017 excite Oyo farmers

    High yield of maize in 2017 excite Oyo farmers

    Farmers in Oyo State on Thursday expressed happiness following better yield experienced during their second set of maize harvesting in 2017.

    Mr Olumide Ayinla, the state Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria ( AFAN ), made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.

    He said the high yield was due to adequate rainfall and the sensitisation programme held for farmers on prevention of armyworm pest by research institute.

    “We have better maize yield this year than last year because of the improvement in the rains, rice farmers also started planting about four weeks ago and the rice is germinating well.

    “We hope the rain continues till November.

    “Also the sensitisation on how to plant maize, prevent/reduce the armyworm pest invading maize farms, by research institute, especially Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) helped us to get the good yield.

    “The herbicide sold to us at a subsidised rate at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture supported us too,” he said.

    According to the chairman, the best time to plant cassava and water melon is between September and November as the two don’t require much water to germinate.

    He, therefore, urged farmers to start planting the crops as soon as possible and hope for a good yield during the time of harvest.

    Ayinla urged the Federal Government through the CBN to look into the loan issue the farmers applied for in 2016.

    “We applied for loan from CBN since last year September but till now we have not seen anything, they promised it will be given to us within 31 days but now is getting to 13 months.

    “Lack of fund is seriously affecting our farming, also lack of good roads to our farms; Fulani herdsmen invading our farms are really giving us concern and limiting our production,” he said.

    He further appealed to the state government to provide storage facilities for farmers to store and preserve produce to avoid scarcity in dry season.

    “They can divide us into three zones in Oyo state for example and create the facilities in the zones, that will still be better for us,” Ayinla said.

  • Firm tackles soybean shortage

    Firm tackles soybean shortage

    Feed production firm Olam is partnering the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, in the production of high-yielding soybean seeds.

    This is aimed at bridging the gap  in soybean production, which  can make processing industries stop operation. Feed producing companies are facing a shortage of soybean due to  unpredictable supply.

    Olam Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Africa and Middle East, Mr. Venkataramani Srivathsan, said though Nigeria was one of the largest producers of soybean, its 500,000 metric tonnes yearly yield was very small. This, according to him, is due to lack of adequate market liquidity and limited incentive to grow the crop.

    He said his company was focusing on boosting soybean productivity, put at below 1.0 metric tonne per hectare compared to three to 3.5 metric tonnes per hectare in Brazil and the United States

    On the partnrship, he said: “We have 220 hectares of trial soybean seed at our Kaduna site, which we plan to gradually expand. We are working with IITA. Starting from next year, we will be offering the improved seeds to farmers to boost their yields.

    “We are sourcing the bulk of raw materials for our animal feed mills, including soybean, corn and cassava from more than 300,000 Nigerian smallholder crop farmers.”

    He said Olam had set a target to increase Nigeria’s soybean production from 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) to two million over the next five to seven years.

    This will not only make Nigeria self-sufficient in plant proteins, but a net soybean exporter.

    He said his organisation was identifying potential government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private sector partners to jointly develop farmer support and agronomy programmes, including training in good agricultural practices (GAP).

    In Kwara State, Srivathsan said its new fish feed manufacturing facility would boost supply to help meet rising demand for fish, which is two million metric tonnes yearly. Local production, he added, stands at about 800,000 metric tonnes of fish yearly.

    He said  fish farming was essential to meet the supply gap and reduce the need for imports, which result in foreign exchange outflow in excess of $1 billion.

    According to him, one of the barriers to increasing fish production is lack of good floating fish feed. Feeds accounts for over 70 per cent of the local farmers’ production costs.

    The Kwara mill, he explained, has an initial capacity of 75,000 metric tonnes of fish feed per year that can be further scaled up.

    Stakeholders say the soya-value-chain affected the cost of cooking oil, stock feeds, chicken and other poultry meats and fish, hence the need to  address this to reduce imports.

  • ARMTI trains 766 farmers

    ARMTI trains 766 farmers

    The Executive Director, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, has reiterated the determination of the institute to reduce youth mobility caused by poverty, through training that will create jobs and business opportunities for them in the agricultural sector and in the rural areas.

    Declaring open a workshop for farmers in Kaduna and Katsina states in Abuja, Oladunni said the institute’s programmes  aimed to promote adoption of improved production practices by targetting farmers, with gradual roll out of farmer-centric agricultural services and systems across the country.

    According to him, the institute   helps farmers use new methods and systems making farming  a more viable livelihood option.

    In addition to the technical skills taught, the training is an opportunity for local farmers to come together, discuss best practices, and share their experiences.

    So far, he said 766 farmers had benefited from the programme.

    Another 114 were being expected, bringing the number of participants to 880..

    He commended Kaduna and Katsina states’ agricultural development programme (ADP) for their assistance to the programme.

  • Develop Lagos-Abidjan Highway to boost agric, ECOWAS urged

    Develop Lagos-Abidjan Highway to boost agric, ECOWAS urged

    The Project Director, Cassava Adding Value to Africa (CAVA), Prof Kola Adebayo, has urged member-states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to expedite action on the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan Highway to boost regional agriculture and food export.

    This followed a report that the tender for the feasibility study of the planned highway, to link  Lagos with Abidjan, the commercial centre of Ivory Coast, has been opened.

    The project will be managed and funded by some  partners, including the ECOWAS Commission, the African Development Fund (ADF) and the African Investment Facility (AflF) of the European Development Fund.

    The study scheduled to last for  18 months will be carried out on various sections of the highway.

    Adebayo said the sub-region has the potential for massive agricultural growth and food production that can meet the needs of residents.

    With capacity for producing crops, such as palm oil, cocoa, groundnuts, cashew, and cassava, among others, Adebayo said the region needs better infrastructural development to boost agriculture.

    He said the highway would provide an important economic lifeline for West Africa, and help to ease transport difficulties faced by food exporters using the major route, as well as create jobs.

    According to him, the sub-region has the capacity to grow into a major food hub that will serve the interest of ECOWAS member- states.

    He said the route has been associated with some problems and obstacles to the smooth flow of goods, trade and movement of persons.

    A former Country Manager, Research into use Nigeria, Dr. Utiang Ugbe, said the Lagos-Abidjan Highway would ease traffic congestion on the East-Coast axis, but only to the extent that Customs & Immigrations protocols are harmonised.

    He said: “In terms of free movement of people, goods and services, any potential net benefit will be erased if travelers will still spend hours at each national border crossing. Therefore, we must address both hardware and software of the project.”

    In 2015, Ministers of Transport, Finance, Justice and Foreign Affairs from the ECOWAS met in Abuja to prepare the blueprint for the development of the highway corridor.

  • Farmers decry imported maize glut

    Farmers decry imported maize glut

    Farmers  have urged the government to come up with  a mechanism for monitoring maize imports to avoid a glut.

    In an interview, the Lagos Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Otunba Femi Oke, warned that millers and cartels were likely to take advantage of the import window, which has resulted in a drop in local maize prices.

    According to him, unchecked maize import remains a threat to local production. As much as the government wants to support producers by making available the grain, it is important to protect local farmers, he added.

    His worry is that the glut in the market may continue, which will result in millers and poultry producers buying the grain at a throw-away price to the detriment of local maize farmers.

    The imported one will create problems for maize producers, many of whom have high stocks, he said. Oke added that farmers would incur huge losses with the continued importation of cheap maize.

    According to him, if the Federal Government does not act fast, the   maize  market will be lost to importers, whose activities may affect local producers, jobs and the economy.

    He was optimistic that the cost of local maize would fall, if the governments offered incentives to farmers to augment their production costs.

    Some stakeholders agreed with Oke, saying the price of imported maize was lower because the government of the importing countries provided support to their farmers.

    But poultry farmers have blamed farmers for the scarcity of maize in the market.

    The Group Head, Policy and Strategy, Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Limited, Mr. Toromade Francis, said local farmers didn’t have the desire to produce more as there was no market for their produce.

    He said this had pushed poultry farmers to import grains, such as soya beans and maize for feed production.

    “Since 2011, the least we have imported (maize) is 200,000 metric tonnes. Even this year, about 300,000MT was projected for importation because of the gap between demand and local production.”

    He noted that imported grains were cheaper at N104,000 per tonne than the local grains which went for N130,000 per tonne, because of the yield.

    “The yield per hectare in Nigeria is about three or four tonnes while the imported ones yield up to 10 tonnes per hectare. In addition to this, cost of funds is low outside Nigeria,” he said.

    The General Manager, Operations, Amo Farms, Mr. Emmanuel Olorun-toba, decried maize and soya beans export to other countries after every harvest season, amid increased demand and high prices of grains .

    At a briefing on the NatnuPreneur Broiler Out-grower scheme in Lagos, Oloruntoba said: “We are in a situation where we don’t have enough maize and yet during the harvest season, maize is exported.

    “I remember vividly last harvest season, an average of 500,000 tonnes of maize left Nigeria to neighbouring countries while we barely had enough to take care of our needs.”

    Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Chairman Dr. Ayoola Oduntan said the scarcity of grains in the local market, has escalated the price of feed. Feed constitutes over 70 per cent of operations’ cost.

    He said the high cost contributed to the high prices of eggs and chicken in the local market.

    He said the cost of feed increased by over 100 per cent from about N60,000 per tonne to about N130,000 between 2014 and 2017, resulting in increase in the price of eggs from N20 to N50 and chicken from N450 per kilogramme to about N1, 200 per kg.

  • Ogun registers poultry farms, others

    Ogun registers poultry farms, others

    The Ogun State government has directed all poultry farms of more than 250 birds, hatchery operators, livebirdmarkets  and poultry processing  facilities in the state to register with the Ministry of Agriculture in accordance with Animal Disease Control Act 2004.

    The registration has the nod of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PANOG) Ogun State Chapter.

    According to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo, the exercise will allow the state to have a database  of poultry farmers and other operators in the sector to control zoonotic and endemic diseases in the state.

    Mrs. Adepeju also said the registration would also assist in   compensation payment to farms in case of outbreak of zoonotic diseases, such as  the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza.

    She urged the cooperation of all stakeholders to take part in the exercise,warning that defaulters would be sanctioned.

  • Promoting bio-fortified crops

    Promoting bio-fortified crops

    An  international organisation, Harvest Plus, is promoting crop bio-fortification, which experts say is a cost-effective method for overcoming deficiencies in crops, writes DANIEL ESSIET.

    Micronutrient malnutrition, also called hidden hunger, is dangerous to health.

    To eradicate it, an international global organisation has taken up the challenge.

    Spearheading the firms is HarvestPlus, a programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is seeking to reduce micronutrient malnutrition through bio-fortification; by breeding new varieties of staple food crops that contain or provide more vitamins and minerals.

    It is biofortifying crops, such as beans, millet, cassava, maize, sweet potato, rice, and wheat with vitamin A, iron or zinc. The crops are not only high yielding but also drought tolerant and pest resistant.

    One of the benefitting farmers is Atinuke Lebile, co-founder of Cato Foods &Agroallied Global Concepts in Ibadan, Oyo State. A HarvestPlus’ partner, her firm cultivates vitamin A cassava crops as well as rice and vegetables.

    Three years after she started her agribusiness in  2014, she is making money from bio-fortified cassava and other crops she planted on her  farm.

    Lebile is at the vanguard of young farmers planting bio-fortified vitamin A yellow cassava. She has seen many malnourished people suffering from vitamin A deficiency. To this end, she is working with Harvest Plus to distribute cassava root varieties that are rich in vitamin A.

    Besides, she is part of an initiative, She Agric, which encourages African women between ages 18  and 35 to work in the agric sector.

    They are promoting bio-fortified crops.

    Bio-fortification, they said, boosts crops’ nutritional value, which  is cheaper than adding micronutrients to processed foods.

    HarvestPlus International Chief Executive Officer Beverley Postma said the organisation tackles hidden hunger, that affects two billion people worldwide.

    Using advanced, research-backed bio-fortification techniques, HarvestPlus crosses high-yield varieties of maize, sweet potatoes, and other staples with older varieties high in those key nutrients.

    The results are dramatic: reductions in killer conditions such as night blindness (caused by a vitamin A deficiency) are observable within a month of dietary changes.

    But the work is painstaking: It can take six years to develop and grow to maturity a new, high-nutrition crop.

    Postma explained: “HarvestPlus in Nigeria is based on three crops – the likes of cassava, maize, and potato which all have naturally enhanced level of vitamin A.”

    Postma said Vitamin A is one of the vital building blocks that heal secular blindness, strengthens the immune system which makes children and adults less vulnerable to some killer diseases such as  malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea.

    She added that Harvest Plus is not stopping on the three crops but   planning to develop and release other staple crops so that  vital minerals and vitamins,  such as  Zinc and Iron, can be brought into people’s diet.

    Explaining how the orginsation is planning to reach one billion people by 2030, Postma said: “To scale up to reach these people in 2030, 200 million has been estimated for the project and there is also the need to input more effort in the next five years into completing the research discovery works of these crops.” She added that some funds need to go into the research in IITA on crops like cassava and sweet potato.

    “All these crops require an amazing amount of research and investment to ensure that they are not only nutritious but also yield the maximum result of reducing diseases because a farmer will not  buy crops only because it is nutritious but because it is also performing. The above 200million estimated is about global figure that will be needed across three continents. Continents such as Africa, where five-18 countries will be scaled up,” she added.

    Also in Asia, three to seven countries will be scaled up before the organisation will move to Latin America to do a similar thing.

    ‘’Scaling up, which will take place in these continents, is a big investment because these are the areas where we see population suffer from a high risk of malnutrition.”

    She appreciated the government for its support to biofortified crops and looked forward to continued patnership.

    HarvestPlus Country Manager, Dr Paul Ilona, said: “The food we eat becomes our future. Statistics have shown that every hour we lose 100 children and six women of child bearing age in Nigeria. These figures are alarming as giant of Africa as the issue of malnutrition is a great challenge in the nation.”

    Ilona lauded the government for its effort at adding value to life through improvement in food culture, by mandating food companies to fortify their food.

    ”HarvestPlus is trying to address the need of majority Nigerians, although majority of these Nigerians are low-income earner; about 60 percent of Nigerians earn less than a dollar a day. To what extent can they purchase the nutritious food?” he queried.

    HarvestPlus Chief Scientific Officer Wolfgang Pfeiffer said: “There is an increase in deficiency from Southnorth.’’He  expressed the hope that there would be more biofortified products next year.”

  • Dizengoff, others set up greenhouse farming fund

    Dizengoff Nigeria in partnership with Best Foods Fresh Farms Ltd and Apel Capital & Trust has set up an agriculture investment fund that will support and finance modern greenhouse farming for has been set by  for investors.

    The fund is a development programme that includes a range of services and financing and non-financing facilities to encourage farmers to introduce greenhouse farming  and modern agricultural techniques, and contribute to the food security system.

    As part of the project, Dizengoff will deliver to Best Foods Farms 10 units of greenhouses to set up a demo/model farm at Igbodu in Epe where Best Foods Farms already have a farm.

    Apel Capital & Trust will act as trustee for this investment fund. Fund is targeting to achieve 35 percent return for investors who are investing into the fund. The minimum investment required is N500,000.

    Best Foods Fresh Farms Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, said: “The scheme, which will be managed by a trustee (Apel Capital), is expected to bring a group of investors’ funds together with the aim of investing in the agricultural sector to generate more profits”.

    Ijewere explained: “Our main purpose of establishing the modern greenhouse farm, is to create a profitable state-of-the-art functional structure in the center of the West African commercial capital, by providing simple innovative and effective farming methods to produce and supply high quality, fresh produce not just to our outlets, but to the broader market of Lagos Metropolis.

    “Apel Capital & Trust will act as Trustees of the Fund for the Project. Therefore, your investment will go into operating greenhouses and open field cultivation of short-term horticultural produce for both the Lagos market and environs.

    He urged those who want to join the scheme to contact his firm.

    Dizengoff Chief  Executive/Country Manager, Mr. Antti Ritvonen said: “As the technical partner on this project, Dizengoff will focus on its area competency, which is to ensure bountiful production all year round, thereby giving investors value for their investment.