The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • ‘Why gari price is falling’

    The Chairman, Enugu State chapter of Cassava Farmers’ Association, Mr Romanus Eze, has attributed the  fall in the price of garri to massive cassava production.

    Eze, a large-scale cassava farmer, spoke in Enugu.

    He said cassava farming  increased in all the states across the Southeast last year, leading to a fall in the price of garri at various markets this year.

    He said many people went into cassava cultivation because of the scarcity of cassava stems last year, recalling that many farmers could not buy enough cassava stems last year due to its prohibitive cost.

    “In 2017, cassava stems were sold to farmers at a high price; some stems were sold at the rate of between N1,500 and N1,800 per bunch.

    “With the high cost of cassava stems in 2017, many people decided to go into cassava farming and this led into massive cassava production and a consequent reduction in the price of garri,” he said.

    Eze said the state chapter of cassava farmers association had mapped out strategies to ensure that the enhanced cassava production level was sustained by sourcing additional markets for the produce.

    He said the Anchor Borrower’s Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had facilitated plans to boost cassava production by getting off-takers for the produce.

    Besides, Eze said the state chapter of the association had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some off-takers who were ready to buy all the cassava produced by the farmers.

    He said the agreement with off-takers would encourage cassava farmers in the state to improve their production without any fear of how to get markets for their produce.

  • FADAMA distributes farm input to 880 in Gombe

    The FADAMA III Additional Financing (AFII) Programme has distributed farm input to 880 households of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and their host communities in Gombe for the cropping season.

    The Communication Officer of FADAMA III (AFII) Programme, Malam Yakubu Mohammed,  who spoke in Gombe, said the farm input included insecticides, fertilisers and improved seed varieties.

    He said the farm input were distributed across the 11 local government areas, adding that aim of the exercise to boost food production.

    “We distributed the farm input to the IDPs because we want them to go back to the farm, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy to encourage food production and reduce the people’s dependence on imported food,” he said.

    Mohammed said the programme also supported 120 IDPs who engaged in dry-season rice cultivation, adding that most of the beneficiaries had harvested their paddy.

     

  • Subsistence agriculture imperative to food security, says Don

     A don, Prof. Simon Irtwange, says subsistence farming or rural household agriculture development will assist to achieve food security in the country.

    Irtwange, who is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture, Markurdi, made the assertion in an interview  in Lagos on Friday.

    Subsistence agriculture is a self-sufficiency farming system in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their entire families.

    The output is mostly for local requirements with little or no surplus trade.

    According to Irtwange,  government must work towards raising agricultural productivity of the rural households to achieve food security.

    Read Also: Adams, others for food security conference

    “Lifting rural households income must be at the centre of the focus to end poverty and hunger.

    “Agriculture accounts for 75 per cent of the nation’s population and more than half live in rural areas.

    “Efforts to eradicate poverty and increase agricultural productivity will also foster development of the rural sector and encourage industrialisation.

    “Higher levels of productivity in agriculture will also free-up the labour market,” he said.

    Irtwange said that efforts should be made to accelerate agriculture development and promote farming businesses.

    He said that the surplus labour as a result of renewed activities in the agriculture sector would be accommodated.

    Irtwange said that it would also go a long way in reducing the high youth unemployment in the country.

    NAN

  • Lagos farmers mull microfinance bank

    Fadama III farmers in Lagos are  working  on  establishing a microfinance bank, President, Lagos State Apex Fadama Community Association, Lanre  Ogunbiade   has said.

    He    made this known at the sidelines of the inauguation of the new executive of the asocation in lagos.

    With the bank, he said Fadama farmers would get soft loans cheap interest rates.

    He   said the effect of the development would be adequate financial empowerment of the farmers to improve and increase food production.

    He said the bank  will   provide  affordable financial services to  farmers.

    Like commercial banks, he said the microfinance institutions will  be  independent and provide loans to small entrepreneurs.

    According to him,  the directors  would be  chosen from the association

    THE  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Lagos Government were expected to give them the nod to operate the microfinance bank.

    He is optimistic that the bank will commence operation soon.

  • Cote d’Ivoire aims to grind 1 million tons of cocoa beans by 2022

    Top cocoa producer Cote d’Ivoire could grind 50 per cent of its current output locally by 2022, boosted by fiscal measures and incentives given to companies in the sector, the country’s deputy head of the Coffee Cocoa Council (CCC) marketing board said on Friday.

    The CCC Deputy Head, Yao N’goran, told newsmen that “it is possible to hit one million tonnes by 2020-2022 because of the fiscal advantages the government has given to companies to help them to invest massively, and that is what is happening.” Cote d’Ivoire has an installed grinding capacity of 712,000 tonnes and increasing that capacity and new grinding units will enable it to reach the target within the next four years, N’goran said.

    The government signed a convention with multinational companies in the sector including Cargill, Olan and Barry Callebaut in 2017, in which the companies agreed to increase their bean grinding by 7.5 per cent each, so as to benefit from the government incentives.

  • Ebonyi commissioner cultivates 500 hectares of rice

    Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Sen. Emmanuel Onwe, Ebonyi said he has cultivated 500 hectares of rice farm during the 2016 and 2017 farming seasons.

    Onwe, a former Senator representing Ebonyi Central at the National Assembly, said he was determined to be at the forefront of Gov. David Umahi’s administration to revolutionise agriculture in the state.

    The commissioner said the governor’s agricultural revolution, especially in rice production, made him target the cultivation of 500 hectares in 2018 after cultivating 150 hectares and 350 hectares of rice farm in the 2017 and 2018 farming seasons.

    “I own the biggest private-individual rice farm in the Southeast geo-political zone of the country as anyone in doubt of this claim should prove otherwise.

    “I will gladly surrender my entire harvest in the previous two years to charity if it established that there is a larger individual effort anywhere in the Southeast as we have more than 600 metric tons of paddy and 200 tons of milled rice in storage presently.

    “I don’t know what is obtained in the Southsouth or Southwest zone of the country but if there are individuals cultivating at such a scale, I am yet to hear about them which tempts me to say that we take the lead in the entirety of southern Nigeria.

    “When five people replicate what we are doing in each state across the zone consistently with 10 state governors replicating what Umahi is doing, then self-sufficiency in this foreign exchange guzzler will become a reality in less than five years,” he said.

    He promised to diversify into cassava cultivation in the coming years but it would be pertinent to first, establish a high level of expertise and lay proper foundation on rice production.

    “The problem with Nigerians is that we are status-obsessed and being a lawyer, I believe agriculture can be practised by individuals regardless of their profession or status in the society.

    “The more I am involved in this venture, the more I realise that the sacrifices to be made are huge but there are correlating benefits with the huge sense of patriotism of doing your bit to sustain a nation,” he said.

    Onwe said rice yield in some areas were modest and very rewarding in some as the farm in Ezillo for instance, was an upland or semi upland farm.

    He said: “Rice yields in such area are usually very low – we struggle to make up to two to three metric tons of harvest per hectare while in the swampy fields in Ikwo for instance, we make five metric tons per hectare.

    “The returns are directly proportional to the profit one makes as the same level of investment can be made in both the upland and swampy areas.

    “In the upland areas of Ezillo for instance, one can make N300,000 but we cultivate in Ezillo because there is a rice variety called Faro 44 which is genetically modified and yields more in such areas.

    “We are at least breaking even, do not engage in these most times for the profit but profit making should not be 100 per cent returns at all times.”

  • Tackling the challenge of pig waste

    Pig farming is one of the most profitable livestock businesses with huge challenges. A team from Cooperl, a France based international organisation, visited the biggest pig settlement in Oke Aro, a Lagos suburb, to discuss how to empower the farmers to address the challenges and do profitable business,Daniel Essiet reports.

    Oke-Aro, a bustling settlement on the border of lagos and Ogun states offers  calm weather and miles of  warm terrain,  that is conducive to pig farming.

    As  a result not less that 3000 farmers have   set up  pens  and are making money.

    One of them is Mrs Olumide Jibodu ,who is now  well established  have  undergoing different kind of training . She  has grown her  herd size by careful management and adapting to the challenges that pig farming presents. She  and other farmers in Oke-Are  have  pens which provide  accommodation for breeding, weaning and farrowing. Some sheds are  subdivided into two to hold a sleeping and a dunging area as pigs should not sleep on a dirty environment, despite the perception that they love dirt.   There , pig slurry are  produced in massive quantities.

    Some   farmers disposed of the  mix of urine, faeces and waste water by simply spreading it on the ground as fertiliser. But an increase has left Mrs Olumide Jibodu  and other farmers with more manure than they can handle. The primary hazard present in pig manure is parasites such as roundworms and tapeworms that can be passed on to man. Some resistant bacteria such as listeria and staphylococcus found in pig may also survive the composting process and have been responsible for disease outbreaks in agricultural and livestock workers.

    This has given her and thousands of other farmers concern as the waste keep increasing as there are no place to dispose them without causing hazard to human health.

    A  meeting with  a team from Cooperal, an international  France based organisation provided an opportunity for her  and others  to talk about  their challenges.

    Addressing the meeting , Director, Cooperl, Cote d’ Ivore, Francois   Teillet  said waste from  pig  can also be used for biogas production.

    According to him, the organisation is  ready to help farmers tackle the  economic and environmental challenges associated with the storage and handling of pig slurry.

    Teillet said the project is meant to create income from pig manure, as well as address the problems associated with it. These opportunities come in two forms – biogas and nutrients.

    According to him, pig waste is  big business and his  confident that pig farmers can benefit as pig manure is an ideal feedstock for biogas plants.

    To this end, he   said the organisation  will help Oke Aro pig  farmers  establish an energy  project that will convert   waste into power using  biogas systems.

    He explained that  the company’s  factory in  France deploys  a  system that reduces pathogens, odour, and offers an example  for  pig pens  managers of all types of organic by-products – from animal manure to food waste to sewage.

    If farmers can overcome these hurdles, Francois   said they can set an example for, renewable gas developers, and others nationwide.

    He said in the last 50 years, the organisation  has taken steps to  continuously improved technical performance to stay competitive.

    Specifically, he  said  the organisation has  continually improved every link in the pork chain, from genetics-driven selective breeding to pig barn design and back to diet and hygiene control.

    As  a result, he  said the company has been able to guarantee a better health—hygiene record, as each time the animals leave the pen, there is a sharp drop in germ load and a break in the infection vector dynamics.

    He said the company  has been  involved  in the  process of manufacturing composite feeds, which is characterised by quality monitoring that kicks in right from raw material ordering, including identifying source, nutritive value,  and health—hygiene profile.

    A  veterinary pig specialist, Dr Carlos Villamanos reiterated the preparedness of the organisation to work with Nigerians to address odours, emitted mainly from manure and decaying feed and carcasses, which are a major concern of the pork industry.

    He  explained that overall odour production from the operation could increase if the  waste  is not properly handled, stored, and treated.

    According to him, their company  has taken measure to reduce odors from swine facilities,  and to improve   pig health .

    The veterinary doctor added that when the sow’s udder comes into contact with the dirty and wet floors, there is a high mortality rate among piglets because the female pigs contract infections on their nipples, leading to death of their young ones.

    One of the project partners, Mr Oluwafemi Malomo said the organisation has  produced organic products in many  areas  to  help keep piglets healthy,  warm and alive, saving farmers the high cost normally incurred by water borne infections.

  • PZ Cusson’s contribution

    A Singapore-based Wilmar International and PZ CussonNigeria have entered into a joint venture and invested more than $650 million in oil palm plantations and processing facilities in Nigeria.

    For instance, the company planted almost 26,500 hectares of oil palm in Cross River State.

    The company’s   investments in oil palm plantations and associated infrastructures in Cross River State currently stand at about N45 billion (approximately $150 million).  These include a processing plant at Calaro Estate in Akamkpa Local Government Area in Cross River State. The estate consist a 45 tonne per hour palm oil mill (POM) and a 2.5 tonne per hour kernel crushing plant (KCP).

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Christos Giannopoulos,  said the  POM basically converts fresh fruit bunches (FFB) into palm oil. This process involves extracting red palm oil from the fleshy outer mesocarp of the palm fruit. The product is known as Crude Palm Oil (CPO), similar to the red palm oil that is sold in the local market.The KCP, on the other hand, extracts palm kernel oil (PKO) from the palm kernels.The company’s palm oil mill at Ibad Oil Palm Estate in Cross River has the capacity of 20 tonnes per hour in terms of FFB processing.

    He said the company has   invested around N20 billion in an oil palm refinery in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

    To the company, Nigeria has the biggest market in Africa and is the largest consumer of the palm oil in the region.

    Currently, there is a massive gap between demand and supply. Estimates of this deficit are around 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes per annum.

    Last  year,he  added that  the  company  launched its Pilot Out growers Scheme. The goal is to support local farmers to develop viable and sustainable oil palm businesses.

    As part of the programme, the company makes available, high quality seedlings for farmers, training them on Best Management Practices (BMPs) to optimise their yields.

    For stakeholders, while there are significant efforts to reduce the  gap between demand and supply of palm oil in Nigeria, there is  massive smuggling of palm oil across the borders to the tune of 400,000 tons per annum due to which the federal government loses millions of dollars in revenue from duty and tax collection.

  • Veteran researchers win golden cassava prize

    A Principal Scientist and Cassava Breeder with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Alfred Dixon and Dr Hernan Ceballos of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have won the 2018 Golden Cassava Prize.

    The prestigious award, which is usually bestowed on colleagues for their excellent contribution to cassava transformation, was given to the two researchers by the International Scientific Committee of the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21).

    Announcing the winners at the just- concluded  GCP21 Cassava Conference in Cotonou, GCP21 Director, Dr Claude Fauquet, said  Dixon and Ceballos were selected from a pack of six highly qualified researchers across the world.

    “We are proud of the achievements of both Dr Dixon and Dr Ceballos to the cassava community. This is in recognition of their work, but also a motivation to other up and coming researchers,” Fauquet said at the award ceremony.

    The GCP21 also presented a special recognition to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for funding dozens of projects related to cassava, thereby contributing to the transformation of the root crop.

    A Senior Programme Officer with the Gates Foundation, Lawrence Kent, while receiving a plaque on behalf of the Foundation, thanked GCP21 for the recognition and honour. He dedicated the award to millions of resource-poor farmers, especially women and children, who depend on cassava for livelihood and food security.

    Known by his peers as “Dr Cassava,” Dixon is the Project Leader of the Sustainable Weed Management Technologies for Cassava Systems Project and Director, Development and Delivery Office in the Partnerships for Delivery Directorate of IITA. He developed over 400 improved cassava cultivars for a range of agro-ecologies and cropping systems in Africa.

    He discovered the Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD2) resistance gene from cassava landraces, which helped in the development of CMD-resistant cassava varieties that saved cassava from across Africa.

    Dixon managed and co-ordinated interdisciplinary research on cassava improvement in sub-Saharan Africa; maintained and improved links between research projects and the national root crops programmes in Africa; as well as facilitated collaborative linkages with advanced laboratories and other institutions working on cassava outside Africa.

    He has authored and co-authored over 350 scientific publications. Dr Dixon played an important role in the development of the Global Cassava Development Strategy and was the Chairman of its Executive Committee 2002-2008. He was also an effective advocate and champion for policy dialogue leading to substantial support by the Federal Government for cassava research and development. This success subsequently led to significant positive influence on other African governments and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in establishing the NEPAD Pan-African Cassava Initiative.

    In 2004, he was conferred with a traditional chieftaincy title, Balogun Agbe, in recognition of his meritorious contribution to agriculture in Nigeria by the Olukoyi of Ikoyi land, Ikoyi, Osun State, and was honoured by CGIAR in 2005 as a great example of CGIAR scientists at work.

    The other awardee, Dr Ceballos, obtained his doctorate in plant breeding from Cornell University, US. In 2007 he received the award for innovation from the Colombian Society for the Advancement of Science. His achievements in the cassava world over the last 20 years as cassava breeder include his involvement in the discovery of a spontaneous starch mutation (amylose-free) and induced mutation (small granule) in cassava, innovations in high throughput phenotyping cassava roots for carotenoid content, implementation of new cassava breeding approaches such as selection based on general combining ability (breeding value) and rapid cycling recurrent selection for high heritability traits; and development and implementation of a new quantitative genetic approach to quantify epistasis in diallel crosses.

    Ceballos has written more than 100 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, several chapters published in books, and two edited books. He served as reviewer of more than 20 Ph.D thesis mostly from African candidates on cassava.

    Dixon and Ceballos, in their response, thanked the GCP21 for the honour bestowed on them. Participants at the GCP21 cassava conference were full or praises for the winners for investing their lives in the development of cassava to help millions of farmers.

    This year’s conference  was supported by IITA, CIAT, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin (INRAB), Faculte des Sciences Agronomique – Universite Abomey-Calavi (FAS-AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research (CORAF/WECARD), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

     

  • Building palm oil value chain

    With a supply gap of about 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) and arable land for cultivation, the untapped potential of the Nigerian palm oil sector is large. Corporate giants are making efforts to increase their plantation area to meet their 2020 targets, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Palm oil is an important vegetable oil, which has many positive attributes. It is used as a key ingredient in both food and non-food products. A large number of companies producing consumer goods use palm oil and its derivatives. They include palm kernel oil, soaps, palm kernel cake (pk), fatty acid, distillates, palm stearin and crude palm oil, among others.

    The oil palm tree gives the highest yield per hectare of any vegetable oil and is the most efficient land-use vegetable oil crop.

    According to Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), the gross value of the palm oil production at plantation level is between N180billion to N250billion annually.

    Palm oil production in Nigeria is 930,000 tonnes, significantly below  estimated consumption  of 1.4 million tonnes. A recent study from an independent research stated that an investment gap of N2 trillion is needed over the next 20 years for Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in oil palm production. Major challenges facing the industry include the use of unimproved seedlings, difficulty in acquiring land due to the land tenure system, inefficient milling methods with poor oil extraction rates and low levels of mechanisation.

    Others are ageing oil palm trees, uncertain land tenure systems, which affect land  allocation for cultivation, and productive inefficiencies, which lead to less competitive pricing. These combined challenges reduce the competitiveness of locally produced crude palm oil (CPO) and influence high prices compared to imported CPO even with the 35 per cent import tariff duty on imported CPO.

    Despite the challenges facing the palm oil sector, a range of investors, especially multinational compa-nies, have been attracted to the potential in the production and processing of oil palm and the largest players in the country are Presco, Okomu Oil and PZ-Wilmar.

    This rise in investment interest is driven by oil palm companies seeking suitable land for its cultivation. Most of them are involved in various aspects of the palm oil value chain: plantations, milling, refining, and distribution.

    Speaking with The Nation, Federation of Agricultural Commodities (FACAN) President, Dr Victor Iyama said oil palm is one of the most profitable commercial high-tree crops. This is because blended palm oil and palm kernel oil form an important share of the global vegetable oil market.  Its main use are as cooking oil and ingredient in domestic products such as  processed foods, detergents, cosmetics, among others.

    The oil palm industry’s expansion, according to him, will lead to positive benefits in generating fiscal earnings and regular income streams for a large number of large and small-scale growers involved in palm oil production.

    According to him, FACAN is interested in any partnership  that offers  Nigerians  from rural areas the opportunity to become oil palm farmers or plasma smallholders.

    The association, he added, is interested in a programme that will help it develop the land and teach skills needed to grow oil palm trees.

    Iyama said the nation needs to  start producing palm oil. According to him, Nigeria currently produces about 970,000 metric tons of CPO, while local consumption is estimated at 2.7 million tons per year, indicating an estimated demand-supply gap of over 1.7 million.

    Experts expect the country’s population to hit 450 million by 2050. This   will drive continued demand for palm oil and its derivatives.