The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Deji of Akure to support College of Agriculture

    Deji of Akure to support College of Agriculture

    The Deji of Akure,  Oba Kole Aladetoyinbo, has called for renewed interest in agriculture.

     He made the call while receiving the management team of the College of Agriculture, Akure, who visited him.

    He said this would enable the nation to harness numerous benefits derivable from agriculture.

    Oba Aladetoyinbo promised to support the college.

    He appreciated the college management for the visit. He praised the Provost for his foresight and commitment to the institution, lauding the giant strides he achieved in the College.

    He urged the management team not to rest on their oars in ensuring that they position the college and the state on the map.

    Oba Aladetoyinbo promised to support the programmes and projects in the college.

    The provost of the college, Dr Samson Odedina, congratulated Oba Aladetoyinbo on his elevation to the exalted position. He told the king of the  programmes and projects ongoing at the institution. They include: international partnerships/collaborations for agricultural value chain projects for students and communities, improved college-neighbouring communities relations, profitable agribusiness investments, provision of employment opportunities for students and indigenes, agricultural vocational trainings.

    Odedina solicited the support of Oba Aladetoyinbo and the Akure Kingdom for the college.

  • Invest in agric, don urges govt

    Director, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Moreplantation, Apata Ibadan, Prof James Adediran, has urged the Federal Government to invest in agriculture and educate Nigerians on the usefulness of the new vitamin A cassava products.

    He spoke a seminar by the college to empower farmers in Ibarapa land.

    Adediran, who was represented by the Deputy Director of the college, Dr. Ayodele Adegbite, noted that agriculture is the only means to eradicate poverty in the society.

    He said: “We can only reduce poverty with our involvement in agricultural products. Before now, there are limited things we can do with cassava, but now, researchers are not sleeping in their quest to discover more things that can be done with cassava, especially Vitamin A cassava. I want to assure you that it is a means to improve the level of unemployment in Nigeria. We want full involvement of Government in agricultural sector.”

    He said cassava can rid the nation of poverty and boost the nation’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) if properly managed like oil.

    Researchers, he noted, have discovered many things that could be done with cassava, especially the vitamin A cassava.

    The facilitator of the seminar, Mrs Bisi Adeyemo, who resigned as a branch manager in one of the new generation banks in 2000 to seek for greener pasture in agricultural sector, said the sector is viable enough to address the high level of unemployment.

    She told the forum that she had employed more than 100 workers in her farms, including graduates, saying more are still longing to be part of the project.

    Adeyemo urged the government to support the agriculture sector and encourage Nigerians to patronise the Vitamin A cassava.

  • Expert seeks funding to reduce livestock, crop diseases

    Deputy Director-General, General Management, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr Ademola Adeyemo, has urged the government to increase funding of beneficial management practices (BMPs) in the agric industry to help reduce the risk of spreading crop and livestock diseases between  farms.

    The spread of livestock diseases such as avian flu has caused millions of naira of losses to farmers and economies in years.

    According to him, stronger measures are needed to monitor, prevent, and control disease to boost food security, and make it safer to trade livestock and livestock products.

    Livestock accounts for a significant portion of the nation’s agricultural gross domestic product.

    However, animal diseases have been spreading quickly in recent years within the country.

    Concerns are also rising about the spread of infectious diseases from animals to humans.

    He urged for a better surveillance information system to issue regular animal health reports and for support for public and private sector agencies to expand their expertise in disease diagnosis, surveillance, reporting and investigation of disease outbreaks.

    According to him, farmers need to be empowered to continually improving their operations and putting best management practices into place.

    This, he maintained, would ensure the long-term health and economic strength of the industry. After the bird flu attacks, he stressed the need to strengthen the surveillance and monitoring mechanism to reduce the spread of diseases between farms.

    Improved funding, according to him, will help farmers and agribusinesses better protect the businesses and ensure strong measures are in place to for the entire industry.

  • How agric can boost youth employment

    How agric can boost youth employment

    How can youth unemployment be addressed? It is by massive investments in agriculture, say experts. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The youth population is the largest in history. An estimated 87 per cent of the world’s young people live in developing countries and in rural areas.

    However, opportunities for youths in these areas are limited or non-existent, leaving them marginalised economically. In the rural areas, most youths are without work. The rate is increasing  daily.

    Following the impact of high rates of poverty, young people are migrating from rural areas in search of opportunities in towns, where they face an uncertain future. But in places, such as Ogbomosho in Oyo State, however, a lot of youths have already become agro entrepreneurs out of necessity.

    Yet, as they try to create their opportunities, they face problems. Agric real estate expert, Debo Thomas, said they have few opportunities to access affordable financial services, adding that without funds, they would continue to have the odds stacked against them. To help solve these barriers, he urged the government to take steps to develop economic and employment opportunities.

    According to him, the government needs to support local governments and private organisations with empowerment programmes aimed at helping rural young people create employment opportunities through agriculture.

    With the right business advisory services specifically tailored for their needs, he maintained that young people will be able to create their own employment opportunities and improve agricultural productivity in their areas.

    Without such opportunities, experts say young people will continue to migrate from rural areas and from agriculture, which would have major implication for food security and political stability. The Managing Director, Niji Group, Kolawole Adeniji sees young people living in rural areas with the potential of becoming farmers and producers of tomorrow. Young rural people, he observed, represented a significant portion of the agricultural workforce, and they can play a major role in the development of rural areas. But a range of access gaps, such as to land, financial services, technology, and markets is limiting their potential.

    For him, the ability of rural youth to engage in productive agricultural and non-agricultural activities has great social and economic benefits for the economy.

    According to him, a lot of unemployed youths  can be empowered to depend on agriculture for their livelihoods if the government provides the enabling environment for establishment of various  micro agric processing  opportunities, adding that such investments would help to create the conditions them  to live in such areas with dignity.

    To this end, he said investing in agriculture could help increase social protection for youths in the rural areas.

    He said boosting investments in agriculture for youths in the rural areas requires innovative financing instruments.

    He called on the government to support young people in overcoming barriers to agricultural production, especially, facilitating access to productive land.

    To support rural youth in finding employment, he said his organisation is creating a farm settlement to boost agroentre-preneurship and to help increase the employment and self-employment opportunities of young people.

    He said his organisation is facilitating an on-farm apprenticeship system where young people will  receive practical, on-the-job agro business training, learn skills in  areas, including agricultural tool-making, farming and gain experience  in managing small-scale enterprises.

    Project Coordinator, Techno-serve, an international organisation, Olorunfemi Toyin, said rural youths are critical in the society, even in agriculture.

    Toyin, who has coordinated several projects on the agricultural value chain and coordinating Technoserve’s Promoting cashew farmer livelihood programme in Nigeria, said it is high time the government  strengthened the programme on youths in agriculture.

    To him, rural youths makes up a  proportion of the population in the rural areas are disproportionately affected by poverty, food insecurity and poverty.

    According to him, there is a broad agreement about the challenges faced by youths and the importance of having multi-stakeholder partnerships to empower them in agriculture and supply chains.

    To achieve rural transformation, he stressed the need to create opportunities for them to participate in productive and lucrative agro business ventures.

    He called for the creation of agro-hubs in rural places where youths can raise nurseries, provide agro-services, such as pesticides applications, grafting, among others, as a source of income.

    According to him, Technoserve has made enormous effort to empower youths and women by provide them with resources, capacity building and access to information, to participate in agriculture.

    He noted that by supporting youths in agriculture to access the right tools and technology, the government could can make significant gains toward ending extreme poverty and hunger.

    He said: “I think the need for government to go the way of agriculture is now, especially considering two current happenings; thee less value on oil and depletion rate or incidences rocking the Nigeria oil and gas sector, and the fact that very few youths are seen and are rare to come-by farming.”

    He urged the government to promote rural youth involvement in agriculture through creating awareness on employment opportunities.

  • Turning agric to forex earner

    Turning agric to forex earner

    Nigeria’s earnings from oil keep on tumbling, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicting the price could go down to $20 per barrel this year. Agriculture experts are divided on how to redress the situation. To some, more money can come in through agro exports mix. But others argue that there are impediments to using such a step to improve the nation’s balance sheet, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The falling oil price is affecting the nation’s export revenues significantly. For the most part of last year, nothing much came from oil to reduce budget deficits,  increase investments, and build foreign exchange reserves. This, to experts, signals the need for greater diversification of the exports mix.

    At present, oil accounts for 70 per cent of foreign exchange earnings while agriculture and other resource sectors together account for as much as 35 percent. But  this, according to experts, has to change  in the face of  the impending crisis in the oil market and International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasting the price could go down to $20 per a barrel next year. Expectedly, the government and investors must heed the warning.

    Despite the concerns about the effect of slide in oil price on the economy, Cassava Adding Value to Africa (CAVA) Project Director, Prof Kola Adebayo, said the government should capitalise on the opportunities the revenue shift presents, to do something to improve the economic pulse by infusing the agric sector with a new commercial vibrancy to help increase foreign earnings.

    Obviously to him, the agriculture is set to become increasingly relevant and important as it plays a bigger role in addressing food security issues and diversifying the economy.

    Domestically, he sees agriculture helping the economy maintain and boost its high growth rates, creating more jobs, significantly reducing poverty, and growing enough cheap, nutritious food to feed the nation and export of surplus crops.

    For all these to happen, according to him, structural changes are needed  that  are capable of helping to fuel agricultural productivity revolution by assisting farmers and companies to accomplish greater economies of scale, increase investment, and become more competitive.

    With the slide in oil earning, trends indicate that the nation’s economic prospects are not strong as such the government must take steps to address the challenges. This, Adebayo noted, would entail lifting agro exports.

    While price of oil is expected to nosedive to less than $20 a barrel, next year, to its price in 1999, grain and other agro commodities will soar on rising global demand. To him, agro exports will remain a primary means for the nation to earn the hard currency, if the government is ready to pursue export-led growth.

    His concern, nevertheless, is overreliance on few primary commodities to generate export revenues. Traditionally, apart from crude oil, Nigeria makes money from exporting a few agro commodities such as cocoa beans, cashew nuts and cotton. For example, however, 90 per cent of the total income from cashew and cocoa and others, calculated as the average retail price of a pound of these commodities goes to consuming countries.

    This clearly underscores the fact that continued dependence on the export of unprocessed soft commodities – as opposed to a focus on increased value addition – would likely adversely affect future growth. Besides, the sluggish demand for few primary agricultural commodities and the recurring conditions of boom and slump in their exports, Adebayo said would continue to create problems for few commodity-dependent economies such as Nigeria. In his view, the overall export performance of the nation is inevitably tied to trends and fluctuations in the revenues from such commodities. Consequently, he stressed the need for having more commodities in the nation’s export basket to deal with unstable prices that generate adverse short-term effects on export earnings. According to him, there are several key agro commodities export opportunities within reach of entrepreneurs in agribusinesses rather than dependence on single or a few commodity exports.

    Investment in infrastructure, he noted, would help overcome the current challenges between farm-level production and downstream activities, such as processing and marketing. This, he added, also, would open the door to increasing the production of higher agricultural value-added products while continuing to produce popular commodities such as cocoa, cotton, livestock products, fresh vegetables and fruits.

    There are other challenges to increasing the agro exports volume which include climate change, fast becoming a greater inhibitor of yields, as incidents of widespread droughts and floods play an ever-increasing role in crop choices and planting decisions of farmers.

    Last year, for instance, farmers underlined the damage severe weather events  inflicted upon the agriculture industry. Across, the North and Southwest parts of the country, farmers witnessed an increase in extreme weather, consistent with the climate change impacts predicted by scientists. There were remarkable changes in rainfall patterns, increase in storms, gales or high winds.

    In an interview, Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Provost Prof Gbemiga Adewale confirmed that farmers and farm businesses in the Southwest have actually been affected by severe weather events, reflected in low rainfall. The news came as a stark reminder that agriculture is on the front line of climate change impacts.

    For Farmers Development Union (FADU) Programme Coordinator, Mr Victor  Olowe, the  financial and emotional cost that changing weather patterns had on farmers reinforced the need for  the government to address the issue squarely if agriculture is to take a front seat in rearranging the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.

    Consequently, farmers had presented to government several challenges they face, which include fiscal incentives that will enable farm businesses to manage volatility and promote capital investment. Though farmers have always battled with the weather when it comes to producing food, projections on climate change projections globally, portend that the battle is going to get more challenging.

    Premier Seeds Limited Managing Director, Dr Matthew Omidiji, said the government must empower farmers to enable access to water adequately so they can prepare for times of drought. The farmers, he added, need to be trained to respond to the changes in the weather and longer-term climate that they are experiencing. This means the government must work with farmers to develop an ambitious food and farming strategy with substantial production potential for an increasingly uncertain future.

    Omidiji said Nigeria needs a resilient agricultural sector to ensure  secure, sustainable and affordable supply of food to its citizens.

    He urged the government to ensure farmers that they have the financial security they need to carry on in what can be a difficult and unpredictable industry.

    At a time weather-related events, geopolitical developments and market fluctuations that impact on agriculture are likely to be ever more common, he noted that farmers need to be assured they have the appropriate support to manage risk.

    According to him, the reform in the sector carried out by the government should provide an opportunity for these issues to be addressed.

    In some areas of the country, post-harvest losses run from 20 to 40 per cent for cereals and are higher for perishable products due to poor storage and other farm infrastructure. This point to the need for significant investment in infrastructure.

    Omidiji believes farmers and agribusinesses can help the government increase foreign exchange earnings if they have access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods.

    Natural Nutrient Limited Chief Executive Sola Bunmi Adeniyi said the two areas the economy has incurred high import bills were rice and poultry businesses.

    To reduce this, Adeniyi urged the government to extend a stimulus package to rice and poultry farmers to boost their production capacity, to meet the demands of the domestic market.

    In view of this, he said special support should be made available to these sectors of agriculture, to increase production, drastically reduce importation of those commodities, and create sufficient jobs for people who would be engaged in their production.

    He said government should be committed to building the capacity of local industries to advance their production levels, to discourage over-reliance on importation of similar products at higher costs.

    According to him, the nation spends millions of dollars on the importation of rice and poultry respectively, in spite of the capacity of the country to produce such products.

  • Support for workshop on Research Council’s reform

    Support for workshop on Research Council’s reform

    The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Nigeria Strategy Support Programme (NSSP) Office are ready to contribute to the National Workshop for the Reform of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).

    IFPRI’s Senior Research Fellow and Head of IFPRI Office, Dr George Mavrotas, made this known at the National Workshop for the reform of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) in Abuja.

    He also stressed that IFPRI is a partner in this exercise in view of its synergy with an IFPRI Office and country programme in Nigeria since 2007.

    The workshop was the final stakeholders national workshop on the ARCN Reform that had participants within the spectrum of top management of various relevant ministries, agencies, research and  allied institutions, parliament, development partners, farmers’ organisations and  other relevant stakeholders.

    This was a culmination of the various earlier zonal retreats and change management workshops that held in Ibadan, Enugu and Kaduna in October and last month.

    The key objective of the ARCN transformation work is to study in depth the organisation of the agricultural research system in Nigeria with a view to developing a strategy for transforming the ARCN (and its component research institutes) into a more efficient and functional body capable of driving agricultural development and change in Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, a consultant to the World Bank, Prof Martins Antekhai, has said the agriculture sector is decisive to the quality of economic growth amid new challenges posed by climate change and other issues.

    Antekhai of the Department of Fisheries, Lagos State University (LASU) urged the government to review outcomes of the sector’s various blueprints for the work.

    Antekhai urged the government to focus on ensuring improving the effectiveness of capital allocation on projects aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in agricultural and food production.

    He said the sector’s low efficiency and lack of investment have undermined its actual potential in the economy. He expects the government to develop an overall strategy to create a longer-term vision for this important industry.

    Within the strategy, he said, attention needs to be paid to facilitating the transition of the agricultural sector from a traditional setting to a more industrial and modern structure.

    The transformation, according to him, will require investments in infrastructure as well as attention to issues such as promoting public-private partnerships to improve the conditions in production, storage and distribution across the country.

    The plan, he added, should  inspire confidence in the economy’s prospects by tackling head on imbalances and pervasive infrastructure deficits, including shortfalls in the power and transportation sectors.

    Promoting the agricultural sector, he maintained, would be a unique opportunity for the government to achieve some important goals.

    To improve the economic resilience on a  longer term, he urged the government to reform the agric research to focus on fostering and deepening production base, increasing local value added and improving the quality of the workforce.

  • Expert laments closure of textile firms, loss of jobs

    Expert laments closure of textile firms, loss of jobs

    A United Kingdom-based firm, Plexus Cotton Limited in collaboration with Nigerian-owned Synergy Cotton and Agro Allied Limited have pledged to  revive the cotton industry in the country.

    The two firms have started a campaign with the farmers in Kano and its environ on the need to revive the agric sector, especially the cotton value chain during a seminar in the ancient city.

    Chairman, Plexus Cotton, Mr. Nick Earlam, lamented the neglect of  cotton production in the country, which he said depleted from 900, 000 metric tonnes in the 60s to less than 45,000 metric tonnes.

    He said the worrisome trend has led to the closure of textile industries and loss of jobs, pointing out that his company would redress the issue, using technology and other incentives for farmers, to add value to cotton.

    Earlam said his company would  engage 3, 000 employees and later 200,000 small holder farmers to turn around the cotton sector for the benefit of the country.

    “Without the raw materials, we don’t have the capability to build the value chain. All the three chains have to work together. It does not work if everybody wants to do it on its own. We have to do it with the private enterprises, development agencies and with government support. We need to make the cotton grow again. We don’t need to be selfish. The target is to build the cotton back to 100,000 metric tonnes in the next two years,” Earlam said.

    He stressed the need to add value to Nigeria’s cotton to enhance development, create more jobs and build the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Earlier, Chairman, Synergy Cotton and Agro Allied Limited, Dr. Adebayo Jimoh, said the company was out to replicate the success story of the value addition programme it did in Uganda, Mozambique and Malawi.

    He said the collaboration between Plexus and his company was in line with the desire ofPresident Muhammadu Buhari to revive the agric sector to create jobs and empower the citizens.

    “But Mr. President cannot do it alone. We also cannot do it alone. You, as the merchants, cannot do it alone. We need a partnership and by the time you listen to what were done successfully in Uganda; you will agree with me that our President is on a right course.

    “For any country where there is no cotton production, food production generally goes down. Cotton is life and big people in the world started life as cotton traders. Let’s believe in cotton to enjoy better life, improve GDP and prosperity for all,” Jimoh stated.

    Spokesperson, Kano State Cotton Merchants, Alhaji Lawan Garo, urged the cotton farmers to key into the initiative of the cotton firms and use the opportunity in line with the approved agricultural practices for expected and increased output.

    Earlier, management teams of both firms had visited the Kano State Deputy Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, with the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry.

    Welcoming the teams, the deputy governor expressed the readiness of the government to support the cotton value chain.

    Abubakar referred to the garment factory established by the immediate past administration in each local government area of the state as part of support the government has created to improve cotton value chain, urging Earlam and his team to visit the factories and see how they could be improved upon.

  • SARD-SC Project wins IITA awards

    SARD-SC Project wins IITA awards

    The Support to Agricultural Research and Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC) project has won the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Awards for Excellence.

    The project also won an Outstanding Team award by  the IITA  Board of Trustees who appreciated the multi-national CGIAR –led  SARD-SC project aimed at enhancing food and nutritional security  in 20 African  countries.

    The awards were announced during the IITA Town Hall meeting. Dr. Chrys Akem, the Project Coordinator, received a certificate and a plaque.

    He said: “This award tells me that persistent hard work does pay off. We are dealing with a very complex project involving a number of institutions, crops and partners; it has been a challenge uncomplexing the project. Thank God we have demonstrated that this can be done and also appreciated by colleagues who voted the project as the most outstanding at IITA for 2014.”

    The award is an indication that project staff’s hard work and diligence in implementing project objectives are appreciated by the executing agency.

    According to Akem, “The award is really a morale booster to the whole project team. They feel rewarded for a job well done in delivering on project outputs. It gives the team the confidence to start looking towards and working hard for a second phase of the project in order to upscale and out scale outputs of the first phase of the project.

    “SARD-SC project is the largest project in the institute. Its complex nature made many to doubt if the project team would deliver. After getting mid-way    with a financial disbursement rate of about 62 per cent as against the expected 50 per cent, it was good to highlight achievements in a complex AfDB project of this magnitude”.

    The other achievement, such as infrastructural development across the various hubs where the project is being implemented was also a salient achievement.

    He praised  his staff for the award. “I could not have been working with any better team in the world than the current team that has been working very hard to achieve project outcomes and in the process got recognised with the best team award for IITA in 2014.”

     

  • How bio-fortification can boost nutrition

    How bio-fortification can boost nutrition

    Bio-fortification is one of the nutritional interventions making communities healthier and farmers more prosperous, Daniel Essiet reports. 

    There is a global reason to promote nutritious staple crops for farmers and consumers.

    Crops involved range from rice, wheat, maize, cassava, beans, sweet potato, pearl millet, banana, plantain, lentil, potato and sorghum. Micro-nutrients that have been targeted for bio-fortification are Vitamin A, iron and zinc.

    In Nigeria, high-yielding cassava, fortified with Vitamin A, is becoming popular as it is helping farmers raise healthier families and improve their livelihoods.

    The farmers planting it have created wealth and made more money. Some have gone ahead to give their surplus to others to grow more biofortified cassava and expand nutritional benefits.

    The Country Manager, Harvest Plus Nigeria, Dr Paul Ilona, noted that while the normal cassava provides calories, it does not provide enough micronutrients, such as Vitamin A that are required for good health.

    These micronutrients are essential as their deficiencies are responsible for some debilitating nutritional disorders, including birth defects, mental and physical retardation, weakened immune systems, blindness and even death. Ilona said people who do not get enough micronutrients suffer from a ‘hidden hunger,’  with serious consequences.

    He stressed that micronutrients are essential for human health and nutrition. If properly used, it can significantly contribute to reduce morbidity, malnutrition and mortality.

    So far, Vitamin A, Iron, Zinc, Iodine, Calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 are some of the important micronutrients. However, ensuring their availability to the poor is a big challenge. According to him, Vitamin A, is essential for good health. Vitamin A deficiency, he added, increases risk of preventable blindness, disease and death from severe infections.

    He said HarvestPlus, and other partners develop vitamin A cassava through conventional breeding in a process known as biofortification. Therefore, he expects more Nigerians to be eating vitamin A cassava because many people, including farmers, are challenged by micronutrient deficiencies.

    Apart from cassava, he said Harvestplus has  released an orange sweet potato that is richer in Vitamin A. There is also Vitamin A-rich maize.

    So far, Nigeria has incorporated pro-vitamin A cassava and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes in its Growth Enhancement Support Scheme, whose goal is to reach 2.5 million farming households.

    Farmers using these varieties are harvesting more yields per hectare and earning more income selling the surplus. HarvestPlus and its partners work in 22 states to promote the availability, adoption, and consumption of Vitamin A cassava and maize. The goal is that more than 1.6 million farming households will be growing these biofortified crops by 2018.

    According to him, HarvestPlus supports breeding, testing and releasing Vitamin A cassava developed through partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

    He added that the organisation work with public and private sector partners to multiply Vitamin A cassava stems and distribute to farmers.

    According to him, the programme is using creative public awareness campaigns through the media, including Nollywood, to educate Nigerians on micronutrient deficiencies and the benefits of Vitamin A cassava.

    So far, he said, the organisation is supporting commercial processing of Vitamin A cassava into popularly consumed products, such as gari and fufu that are marketed nationwide. Participants are taken through processing and the preparation of various recipes, such as flour, balls, chips, cakes and  pie.

    The Provost, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State, Dr Samson Odedina, said the institution is providing an outlet where farmers are encouraged to adopt and consume vitamin A cassava.

    ‘’The college also warehouses a model one-stop shop where consumers can buy Vitamin A cassava stems, tubers, and ready-to-eat products. Our advocacy seeks to strengthen national ownership of biofortification through effective integration into national nutrition and agricultural policies. The college is training both students and farmers on processing and utilisation. The training is part of the value chain and enterprise development strategy of to increase household income generation opportunities through the sale of cassava products and market creation,’’ he said.

    Pelumi Aribisala, a farmer in Ibadan, is growing nutritious and high-yield iron-rich cassava and earning higher income. He and others have  harvested their Vitamin A cassava.

  • ‘How to increase export market share’

    ‘How to increase export market share’

    The government should capitalise on the potential  of organic agriculture, improve product quality and packaging to capture a larger share of the export market, Niger State Coordinator, Mr. Hussaini Iliyasu, the Agriculture Graduates Association of Nigeria (AGAN), has said.

    Iliyasu,who gave the advice in Minna, the Niger State capital, during a forum tagged: Farmers’ Field Day, said there was a growing demand for organic products, adding that farmers could explore it.

    He said: “Going back to nature in food production as the alternative means in sustainable food security considering the benefit inherent in it are what motivated AGAN to demonstrate rice using organic/bio-fertiliser in collaboration with Contec Global Agro.”

    On the successes of the products, Iliyasu said: “The farmers’field day is to bring into limelight the achievements of farmers whose crop was under demonstration plots for analysing the efficacy of bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticides.”

    Continuing, he said: “There were 30 plots; one hectare each in five different villages. The results have been very impressive. Harvesting has started, and from the less than three tonnes per hectare, we are getting more than six tonnes, as we have experienced on the average, 70 tillers per plant as compared to 35-40 tillers per plant we were getting while using the conventional chemical fertiliser.

    “So, we are assured of increased economic yields per hectare of five to six tonnes per hectare compared to 1.5 – 1.8 tonnes per hectare that an average conventional farmer is getting.”

    Also, the representative of the farmers who participated in the experimentation, Alhaji Mohammed Mahmoud, said: “The evidence is there in the field for all to see and feel. I have farming neighbours who use the conventional products. They get on the average, 40 tillers per plant, whereas I get up to 60-70 tillers per plant.

    “You can see (pointing to his field) that there are no symptoms of insect infestation on my farmland. And very importantly, using the products has helped in cutting down the cost of production for us to as much as 60 per cent as against the past.”

    He said the time between planting and harvest was significantly reduced to less than four months as against the six months for conventional farming.

    Managing Director, Contec Global Agro, Mr. Thomas Chackunkal, said the product makes farming more  lucrative, saying: “The use of bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticides would help to, ultimately, give life to the soil, give the farmers lesser financial stress and ensure that the people eat very healthy foods.”

    He said Contec Global Agro has acquired a research centre in Abuja, where researches on organic farming and other cutting-edge agricultural procedures would be explored for the benefit of farmers.”

    This, he said, would add to similar efforts2 to make Nigeria an agriculture research hub for Africa.

    On the firm’s plan, he said: “We have started with rice, but we are also aware that many other crops are grown in Nigeria, which is why we have gone into partnerships with the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) in Plateau State, and other stakeholders to ensure that every crop is covered.

    “We are also working towards making our products available in the coming days for dry season farming, just as we have concluded plans to bring in small hand-held easy-to-use devices that could help farmers with irrigation farming.”

    According to him, Contec Global Agro is the first company in Nigeria to set up a microbiology lab and factory for commercial production of bio-fertiliser, growth enhancers and plant protection biologicals.

    “We are following a strong dealer network for our product distribution. So far, we have around 35 dealers located in eight states, including Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfarra, Sokoto,Taraba, Plateau and Nasarawa.

    “The company’s vision is to be a pioneer in offering key solutions to farming community right from seed till harvest through usage of our safe and organic products.

    “We are also initiating farmers to form small clusters and other associations so that larger sections can be reached while disseminating the information about product and their usage, along with good agricultural practices,” he said.

    Managing Director, Niger State Agriculture Mechanisation Agency (NAMDA), Alhaji Baba Madugu, has hailed the organic farming initiative, saying it is the way to go for Nigeria.

    Represented by the Zone A Zonal Coordinator of NAMDA, Ismaila Musa, the Madugu, however, craved for an inclusion of youths and women in the scheme.

    He said: “The youth in agriculture are the future, hence should be integrated into the scheme. I also want to make special case for gender sensitivity.The women must be included in this.”

    He called on Contec Global Agro to ensure steady supply of the products in the market, adding that the cost must also be friendly.

    FADAMA III Coordinator in Niger State, Alhaji Mohammed Vatsa, who represented the Permanent Secretary, Niger State Ministry of Agriculture, said, the initiative was commendable.

    He said: “FADAMA is highly supportive of modern initiatives in agriculture. However, this cannot be possible if we are using obsolete equipment and techniques of farming. This is why we welcome the initiative of organic farming being promoted by Contec Global Agro.’’

    According to Vatsa, testimonies from the farms have shown that continuous use of bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticides would help to boost yields for farmers, advising that every farmer should go for it.

    The traditional leaders of the neighbouring communities, represented by the Emigi Village Head, Ndashietu Idrisu, appealed for the inclusion of other villages in the scheme.