The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Farming

  • IFAD trains 54 on bee farming

    The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-assisted agricultural development programme has trained 54 rural farmers in bee farming skills in Jigawa State.

    The Programme Officer, Alhaji Umar Abubakar, said in Dutse, the state capital that the beneficiaries were drawn from nine ] local government areas where IFAD operates.

    IFAD is a United Nation(UN) agency charged with enhancing rural agriculture, especially in developing countries.

    Abubakar said the local government areas include Dutse, Buji, Kiyawa, Garki, Gwiwa, Auyo, Birniwa, Taura and Guri.

    He said the bee farmers were taught new skills on bee-keeping and beehive construction and setting.

    Abubakar said the new skills imparted on the farmers would stimulate socio-economic well-being of the beneficiaries as well as generate revenue for the state.

     

  • Kano to support all-season farming

    The Kano State gvernment says it is determined to support dry and wet season farming to boost agricultural production in the state.

    The state Commissioner for Commerce, Dr Damburam Abubakar, made the pledge at a sensitisation programme on new technologies for tomatoes drying held at Kura export production village, near Kano.

    Abubakar said the state government had placed high premium on the initiative of tomato drying, and urged the farmers to patronise the exercise for the good of the society.

    According to him, the initiative will enhance food production as well as boost the income of the farmers.

    In his speech, chairman of the export village, Alhaji Wada Kura, praised the government for its support and assured of the cooperation of farmers.

     

  • Kogi to  harvest dry season rice farming next month

    THE Kogi State Agricultural Development Programme, (ADP) has said it was expected to harvest over 4000 metric tones of rice from its coordinated dry season rice farming.

    The Managing Director of ADP, Dr. Ameh Onoja, who disclosed this yesterday while conducting journalists round the farms at Sarkin Noma and Okumi, said the government provided the farmers with all the needed inputs.

    The state government had last year December cleared and shared  1,500 hectares of land to prospective farmer groups at Sarkin Noma, Galilee, Okumi in Lokoja and Koton-Karfi free of charge as part of its agricultural transformation in the state.

    According to Onoja,  Kogi was working to beat the federal government deadline for putting a stop to the importation of rice, and called on the farmers to take advantage of government’s favourable disposition to improve agriculture in the state to improve their well-being.

     

  • Farming season begins in Kano

    Local farmers in most parts of Kano State have started clearing their farms in readiness for this year’s planting season, it has been reported.

    Investigation in Rimin Gado, Gwarzo and Kabo local government areas of the state, revealed that most of the farmers in the areas had begun the clearing exercise about two weeks ago.

    The investigation further showed that some of the farmers who had completed the clearing of their farms had since been bringing local manure to their farms.

    The investigation also showed that farmers who travelled to some parts of the country in search of greener pastures during the dry season (popularly known as Ci Rani) had also started returning home.

    One of the returnees, Malam Ibrahim Shuaibu, told journalists in Gwarzo that he returned from Lagos last week in order to clear his farm in preparation for the rainy season.

    ‘’Most farmers in the village who went to Lagos and other parts of the country in search of greener pastures have started returning home to prepare for the forthcoming rainy season,’’ he said.

    Meanwhile, some farmers in the areas have called on the state government to ensure early distribution of fertiliser in order to enable farmers get the commodity in time.

    They said there was need for the government to provide the commodity in time to enable farmers, particularly in rural areas, to purchase the commodity.

    ‘’Government should ensure early distribution and sale of the commodity so that farmers in remote areas can access the commodity in good time,’’ a farmer in Rimin Gado, Malam Abubakar Mohammed said.

    ‘’I use seven bags of fertiliser on my farm every year, but I find it difficult to get the commodity in time because of the bureaucracy involved in distributing and sale of the commodity,’’ he added.

  • Oxfam urges Nigerians to revive farming

    Oxfam urges Nigerians to revive farming

     

    The Country Director of Oxfam in Nigeria, Ms Chichi Okoye, has advised Nigerians to ensure the revival of farming practices in the country.

    Speaking at the Oxfam “Go live’’ ceremony Thursday in Abuja, she said Nigeria was fast losing its farming population.

    “If nothing is done about, it the nation will be in a food crisis in the nearest future,’’ Okoye warned.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organisations networking together in more than 90 countries.

    It is a part of a global movement for change, aiming to build a future free from the injustice of poverty.

    Okoye said the organisation works directly with communities to empower them, to ensure that poor people could improve their lives and livelihood and have a say in decisions that affect them.

    She said Oxfam works with people living in poverty, who are striving to exercise their human rights, assert their dignity as full citizens and take control of their lives.

    Okoye said Nigeria as the most populous country in West Africa plays a critical role in shaping the agenda for the region and for Africa more widely.

    She said when the country gets development right, other countries could then learn and follow.