The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • 10,000 youths, others to get Ogun, CBN aid

    No fewer than 10,000 youths and other small-scale farmers are to benefit from the Ogun State/Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Programme aimed at creating employment for youths and boosting agricultural production and food security in the state.

    The state Coordinator and Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture, Mr. Tosin Ademuyiwa, disclosed this in Abeokuta at the flag-off of the programme to empower the youths and others in the 20 Local Government Areas of the state.

    He explained that the programme was to give financial support to them to boost production of cassava, rice and maize, adding that attention would also be given to fisheries and poultry farming.

    Admonishing youths to key into the opportunities offered by the programme to earn a living, he said everything would be done to ensure that they benefited maximally from the programme.

    The coordinator, Ogun State Youth in Agric Business, Comrade Olugbenga Ige, thanked the state government and the CBN for the opportunity to be self-employed and help in diversifying the economy.

  • Varsities to support ECOWAS to implement agric policy

    Enhancing Capacities on International Agriculture Agreements for Development of Regional Agriculture and Food Markets (ECIATA), a regional project collaboration between agriculture universities in the subregion,  has pledged to support Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) member-nations to promote policies  that will boost food security.

    The main objective of the project is to strengthen the academic capacities of partner institutions on international trade agreements, which would enable them to enhance the institutional capacities of government ministries, agencies, regional bodies, farmers organisations, civil society and other relevant bodies on trade-related agriculture negotiations, agreements and policy implementation in support of regional agriculture and development of food markets.

    The universities include the College of Agriculture Education of the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana; University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia; Njala University, Sierra Leone, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, and University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

    According to ECIATA,  West Africa region has major potential in terms of agriculture, livestock and fisheries, but  was facing  food security problems because of  challenges occasioned by  differing climate conditions, sub-regional disparities and local production deficits, a lack of market fluidity and little competition within production sectors.

    The group noted  that the  link between food security and the availability of foodstuffs requires that different sectorial policies have to work together to enhance the competitiveness of the agriculture sector and develop the regional food markets. Stepping up food security requires improving the competitiveness of the sector to improve production.

  • No interest in farming, no varsity admission, says minister

    No interest in farming, no varsity admission, says minister

    The Federal Government has banned students without interest in farming from gaining admission into its Universities of Agriculture.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, made this known at a stakeholders meeting with registrars and pro-Chancellors of the universities in Abuja.

    He said the decision was aimed at repositioning the institutions to involve youths in agriculture, and train them to solve the multi-faceted problems in the sector.

    The Minister, who expressed regrets that non-agriculture-based courses, such as engineering, were being taught in the schools, warning that the only agriculture-related disciplines be taught.

    Ogbeh said the Federal Government’s decision to relocate its three Universities of Agriculture from the Federal Ministry of Education to Agriculture, was to refocus the insitutions as globally-acclaimed citadels to move the sector forward.

    He assured the universities that the government would support them by providing funds and grants to assist in research.

    “The domiciliation of the universities in this ministry is a commendable effort by the Federal Government based on sound reasoning and logic.

    “Your return will effectively help us to reposition the three universities of agriculture as centres of excellence for the rapid development of the agric sector.

    “There is no place where the competence and capacity to drive agriculture resides outside the Universities of Agriculture. We need to achieve a hunger-free Nigeria.

    “Henceforth, students who are not interested in becoming farmers should be made to seek admission elsewhere,’’ Ogbeh said.

    He assured that the government would support students in researching for their self-actualisation.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, Mr. Mohammed Munguno, advocated a bill to establish the National Universities Agricultural Commission to regulate operations of the Universities of Agriculture.

    He said the National Assembly would amend their rules to ensure that the universities were domiciled in the ministry.

    “There is need either through an executive bill or a bill to be sponsored by the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture for the establishment of the National Universities of Agricultural Commission.

    “It will be charged with regulating the universities of agriculture to effectively perform their statutory roles in tandem with the laws establishing them,’’ Munguno said.

    The Pro-Chancellor of the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia, Prof. Anya O. Anya, lauded the government for the relocation.

    Anya, who raised concern over the disconnect with the science and practice of agriculture in the country, expressed the hope that the assigning of the universities to the ministry would boost their effectiveness.

  • Why farms fail, by experts

    Why farms fail, by experts

    There is a dearth of farm managers who know their onions. This has led to the closure of many farms. However, some experts and organisations are  working to solve the problem. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    A series of life-changing  events brought the Chief Executive of High-Hill Moringa Limited,  Sola Adeniyi, back to agriculture – into a small business outfit that packages Moringa.

    The farm has expanded to have hundreds of acres of fresh market produce, which include cucumber, watermelon, vegetables, and plantains.

    According to him, the dynamics of agriculture drive investors to embrace it. Crops – turmeric and basil – beckon from the horizon. Many investors experiment with field and cover crops.

    Yet, the challenge is lack of trained farm managers. This has led to closure of many big farms, especially those run by investors without agric background.

    Adeniyi is successful because he is trained and has experience. He acknowledges that the greatest challenge for agriculture is experienced farm managers. Adeniyi’s farm, and those that grow other high-value crops, are at the leading-edge of profitable farming.

    For him, there is so much to learn to avoid missteps that are  inevitable as a beginner. Yet, he added that failures do provide an opportunity for learning.  As an instructor, he sees the same set of errors, making investors feel cassava farming and processing are not profitable.

    While there has been huge interest in farming, Country Manager, HarvestPlus Dr Paul Ilona said even farms opened with most modern design and equipment in the last 10 years, have  gone through crises. This is because they are managed by ill trained and inexperienced farm managers.

    To address this, he is undertaking a campaign to train farm managers. He is starting with partners of Harvest Plus involved in cultivation of bio-fortified maize and cassava. Most of the hi-tech farms, he explained, went for large scale  formula, cultivating large hectares.

    Ilona said most investors have good intention, but lack farming experience. According to him, many failed farms were started by highly educated people, who had built castles in the air. In addition,  many owners depended on others to take care of their farms who themselves did not have much knowledge. According to him, farming requires extensive knowledge and patience.

    When one is inexperienced, Ilona advised that it was good for him to start small.

    He  said  farm managers should be aware of the costs and returns of farm enterprises at farm-levels and along the marketing chain and of ways to reduce these costs.

    He  said the  industry needs  farm management specialists who can   gather information and develop a true picture of the farm business and its problems and opportunities. With this understanding of the situation, he said the farm manager could  give practical and relevant recommendations.

    Ilona said Harvest Plus was ready  to  provide guidance on the development of farm management  skills  in agricultural development. At his monthly business forum, speakers featured are role models who can inspire others and encourage them to innovate in agriculture. Their stories are a testimony of how to transform agricultural value chains through their innovations.

    One of its partners, Federal College of Agriculture (FECA), Akure is mobilising mentors to work with the youth.

    The Provost of the College, Dr Samson Odedina, said the belief that young people do not want to go into agriculture was not true. They need more support in getting to where they need to be, he said. At the college, he said the youth had seen the success of its work with HarvestPlus.

    According to him, FECA is ready to work with professionals who can support young people in agriculture to learn new things and rediscover a passion for their own work.

  • ‘Mechanisation vital to agricbusiness’

    ‘Mechanisation vital to agricbusiness’

    To  boost agriculture, small farmers should embrace mechanisation, say experts. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Although agricultural mechanisation helps to improve productivity and profits of small-scale farmers, many are yet to embrace emerging farming technologies and machinery.

    Factors, such as the high cost of machines and farmers’ lack of access to finance, make the machinery unaffordable for resource-poor farmers.

    Despite these, some farmers are calling for a change. One of them is Debo Thomas, a large  scale  farmer in Ogbomosho, Oyo State. His community has a strong agricultural tradition – nearly two-thirds of its population are farmers.

    Though he uses agricultural machinery to plant and harvest crops, he is among those canvassing the introduction of cheap, easy-to-operate and easy-to-maintain tractors  that  can be fitted to a various innovative auxiliary equipment for planting, threshing and irrigation.

    According to him, tractors and other high tech machinery are often difficult to get in the  area.

    To achieve increased production, he  believes the governments, farmers, and policy makers should work together to make mechanisation a priority. If done well, he said mechanised agriculture will be a springboard to lift people out of poverty, relieve the burden of hunger for many, and increase the quality of life for the most vulnerable rural poor.

    For Country Manager of Dizengoff Nigeria, Mr. Antti Ritvonen, tractors increase farm efficiency and create greater prosperity for farmers.

    According to him, with quicker planting and harvesting and reduced harvest losses, the tractor allows farmers to plant and harvest more crops yearly.  He said it makes seeding and harvesting easier and more accurate, increasing yields.

    To this end, he  said tractors provided by his organisation are distributed in most part of the Southwest where farmers grow crops in large scale farms.

    The only challenge in the business is slow adoption of mechanised farming.To improve the situation, Dizengoff Nigeria announced an international partnership with CASE IH, a global leader in agricultural equipmentmanufacturing.

    Ritvonen  said: “We are very excited to be partnering Case IH in the area of providing quality tractors to Nigerian farmers, as we intend to improve farming substantially as well as revolutionise the agricultural sector through mechanisation.”

    Accoding to him, for Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in food production, farmers need to embrace mechanisation in their farming. He said many farmers in the country still depend on hand tools, such as hoes and cutlasses, which are time consuming, laborious and inefficient.

    He added: “We believe this partnership is very important to farmers, as it will impact positively on their production. We are committed to selling the most reliable and productive agricultural equipment solutions available.”

    Tractor and Implement Commercial Manager, Mr. Damisa Enahoro, said: “Without doubt, mechanisation is the solution every farmer will need to improve production and eliminate loss of time. Nigeria has the potential of becoming the food basket of Africa, and mechanisation is key to achieving it. This will invariably stimulate the overall economy of Nigeria.”

    Damisa explained that the deal would enable Dizengoff to get all its technicians and service team trained by CASE IH to provide a robust after-sales support to its customers.

    Case IH is a global player reputed for productive agricultural equipment and leadership, innovation and reliability, built since it was founded in 1842 in Racine, United States.

    Through the deal with CASE IH, Dizengoff sells and supports its range of tractors, including the JX and JXT Series of all- purpose machines.

  • Forex: Manufactures call for review of 41 banned items

    Forex: Manufactures call for review of 41 banned items

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has pleaded with the Federal Government to review the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) foreign exchange policy, which placed ban on importers of 41 items from accessing the forex market.

    Speaking in Lagos, MAN President Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs said some of the items that were restricted from accessing the forex market could not be sourced locally.

    He said: “The association has done an analysis on the banned items and we broke the 41 items into 110 and of the 110, 75 are raw materials for our members. It is these 75 items we ask the Federal Government to remove from the list so that our members can source forex to buy their raw materials.’’

    The MAN chief also said that about 44 of its members have closed shop due to unavailability of raw materials.

    “We have lost about 44 of our members. They have gone out of business because of their inability to source foreign exchange to bring in the materials,” he said.

    Jacobs said the way forward to resolve manufacturers’ inaccessibility to forex was for government to review the 41 items that will involve the stakeholders.

    “Such raw materials that cannot be locally available should be removed from the items,’’ he said.

  • Institute inaugurates regional coordinators

    The Institute of Agricultural  Research and Training, Moor Plantation,  Ibadan, has inaugurated regional co-ordinators for soil development to foster food sufficiency in the country.

    Inaugurating the committee, the institute’s Executive Director, Prof. James Adediran, said members comprised professors and specialists on soil.

    According to him, the committee is expected to raise a team of soil scientists that cut across all disciplines in soil sciences in their respective regions.

    He noted that the committee would also co-ordinate research activities for agricultural transformation in the country.

    Adediran said: “Based on our national mandate, we are well positioned to do this through the cooperation from each region. We are to raise a team of soil scientists in the region that cuts across all disciplines in Soil Science and to also collaborate with other regions in planning and executing soil research programmes in Nigeria.

    “We are also saddled with the responsibility of identifying challenges and environmental impacts on soils with the aim of providing sustainable methods of land use in all the regions.”

    Speaking on the need for such development, Adediran said the mandate for national soil research was given to the institute by the Federal Government in 1978 when the Ministry of Agriculture was recognised to conduct and co-ordinate research for the development of soil management technology in all agro-ecologies.

  • ICRISTA to promote groundnut export

    International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is set to enhance farmers’ income in the North through the adoption of better cultivation practices and promotion of groundnut export.

    ICRISAT, an  international organisation, is committed to improving food security, making smallholder farming profitable, tackling malnutrition by focusing on more nutritious crops, and helping overcome environmental degradation across the African continent.

    The strategy include improved access to new seed varieties; inputs and services that foster technology penetration; improve productivity; introduction of post-harvest technologies and providing market linkages to strengthen sustainable agriculture based livelihoods .

    Principal Scientist, ICRISAT-Nigeria, Dr Hakeem Ajeigbe,  said demand for improved groundnut varieties has increased over the years, making it imperative to develop varieties suitable to different agro-ecological zones of  the country.

    New varieties of groundnuts, according to him, are suited to the local soil and climate of the North. According to him, the institute will help small-scale farmers boost production and improve food security. He  said  ICRSAT has been working with national partners to develop improved groundnut varieties.

    He  said the  gap between potential and realised yield  was  large in subsistence farming. To address these issues, ICRISAT has been working with national partners to improve productivity of groundnut with the support from Tropical Legumes and Groundnut up scaling projects through development andlarge scale adoption of improved groundnut varieties.

    According to him, on-farm trials were established at four locations: Gumel (Jigawa State) and Zango (Katsina State).The locations were managed by ICRISAT with support from extension agents of the Agricultural and Rural Development Authorities (ADPs). Alongside, he said  ICRISAT and IAR established and directly managed similar validation demonstrations at Minjibir (Kano State) and Samaru (Kaduna State) locations.

  • Cocoa exporters demand return of boom era

    Federal Government has been urged to bring back the era, when Nigeria was a top player in terms of quality and quantity in the global Cocoa production.

    The Cocoa Exporters Association of Nigeria(CEAN), which made the call, also recalled that in the 1960s and 1970s, the country banked on the commodity as the largest foreign revenue earner and one of the leading cocoa producers, but today, Nigeria is seventh in world ranking.

    The  association’s Secretary-General, Kayode Babade, who spoke  in Akure, the Ondo State capital, noted that Nigeria had all it takes to take over the leadership in cocoa production in the world if farmers and exporters were adequately encouraged by the government.

    He, however, praised President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh for inaugurating the Cocoa Re-launch Commitee aimed at diversifying the economy to an agric-based.This development, he observed, would boost the vision to make Nigeria the world’s largest cocoa producer.

    According to him, ”CEAN had in the past contributed immensely to the growth and expansion of cocoa in the country by providing loans and herbicides to farmers to enable them increase production.

    “With this federal government initiative, we are equally ready to further partner the farmers to ensure that the federal government vision on increased cocoa production comes to reality very soon.’’

    CEAN President, Pius Ayodele also urged the committee to alive to their duties, stressing that as major stakeholders in the cocoa value chain, they were looking forward to the cocoa re-launch campaign in Ondo in March.

  • NCAN chief gets award in Guinea Bissau

    NCAN chief gets award in Guinea Bissau

    National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) President, Mr. Babatola Faseru has been honoured by the African Cashew Alliance (ACA).

    This was at the 10th ACA World Cashew Festival & Expo Guinea-Bissau with the theme: It had as theme“A Decade of transformation”.

    The award was in appreciation of Faseru’s  outstanding contribution to the development of the industry in the last 10 years.

    The Certificate of Appreciation was presented to him by Mr. Rui Nene Djata, Minister for Agriculture, Guinea Bissau at the awards and gala dinner of the festival in Bissau.

    Faseru served as ACA Executive Committee member from 2012 to 2015. He was elected as the Vice President of the body.

    He is the first Nigerian to attain this position.

    The conference, which had over 300 participants from across the globe, featured 12 exhibitors, four plenary sessions and six World Cashew Forum sessions at the Ledger Plaza Hotel in Bissau.