The Nation Newspaper

Tag: integrated

  • NNPC to transform into integrated energy company

    NNPC to transform into integrated energy company

    • Raises alarm over fake recruitment

    The  Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said its ongoing reform is geared towards transforming the state-run oil firm into an integrated energy outfit with interest in power generation and transmission.

    Its Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr Maikanti Baru, who spoke at the 53rd International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) in Abuja, said the oilf firm has identified opportunities in the power sector.

    In a paper titled: Challenges and Prospects for the Diversification of the Upstream, Downstream and Frontier Basin Exploration in the Oil and Gas Sector, Dr Baru said NNPC  was ready to take advantage of the power sector opportuniies. He said the firm will transform from being a gas supplier to the power sector into a major player.

    He said the Corporation was already working on a project to generate four Megawatts (4Mw) of electricity while also exploring the possibility of investing in the transmission segment of the  sector.

    In a statement yesterday, the GMD explained that the Corporation’s decision to diversify into the power sector was hinged on the need to bridge the huge energy gap in the market.

    He said contrary to the impression that the poor power situation was caused by inadequate gas supply, the real problem was inadequate transmission capacity. He added that there was enough gas to generate eight gigawatts (8Gw) of electricity but the transmission grid cannot support such volume of power without complications.

    Baru also defended the Federal Government’s plan to transform illegal refineries in the Niger Delta into legal entities for proper integration of the youth in the region.

    He argued that getting the youth to form consortia to set up 1000 barrels per day (bpd) modular refineries would get them off criminality and create jobs.

    In the upstream, he said his goal was to accelerate frontier exploration and grow crude oil reserve to 40 billion barrels from the current 37 billion.

    He also challenged the geoscientists on the need to deploy more sophisticated technology and drill deeper than the current 13,000 to 15,000 feet in the Niger Delta to produce more oil.

    “We have to look deeper with intensive 3D and 4D seismic surveys over the so-called matured Niger Delta. The older, the better”, he declared.

    The NNPC also raised the alarm on the existence of some dubious syndicates with specialty in extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public under the pretext of a purported recruitment exercise and promise of phantom job placements in the Corporation.

  • Food security: Integrated farming to the rescue

    Food security: Integrated farming to the rescue

    The University of Ibadan is running a model of integrated rice-fish–poultry–pig farm that will boost food production, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    At the rice-fish-poultry-piggery farm of the University of Ibadan, students master the act of growing rice and animal husbandry in the same place. It is an integrated farm. The fish eat weeds, bugs and molluscs that carry pests; their waste acts as fertiliser while they stir up sediments that release nutrients which help the rice grow.

    The model is unique, involving fish farming, poultry keeping, rice production and piggery.  The pond meets the needs of the fish as well as enables the rice to be grown on-site,  while complementing the rearing of poultry birds and pigs. There is a small  mill & mix plant housed in the feed store which produce feeds for the unit.  The university ensures that the pigs are fed with  meals to boost their iron sufficiency.

    Zinc oxide is added to the feed to reduce digestive upsets. The complex relies on natural ventilation for cooling. The finisher pens are not slatted, instead the floors are cemented with concrete, with manure swilled off twice daily into muck channels that run down both sides of the house.    A big  part of the business is the fish farm. The large fish pond is stocked with catfish. After harvesting, the catfish are smoked or sold fresh. The complementarity of the system is ensured with the use of rice grain and bran as feed for the poultry.

    On the project, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof Bamidele Omitoyin, said the rice planted  in the fish  pond  benefits from nutrients, in fish excreta. In addition, he said the aquatic weeds of rice are reduced due to fish presence.  In turn, he said, the fish benefit from the favourable micro climate created by the rice plants. However, he said rice requires nutrients in the form of inorganic fertilisers, which the fish waste provides whereas fish needs nutrients in organic form. The essence of integrating them, he explained, is to allow the circulation of nutrients in various forms. He said poultry waste from the farm is recycled into the fish pond. The droppings of poultry birds, he added, are used to fertilise the pond.

    To achieve this, he said the chicken waste from the poultry unit, built near the pond, is washed down through the delivery channel as organic fertiliser for the growing of rice. This, he added, helps farmers to avoid spending money in buying chemical fertiliser.The ponds also receive pig dungs. This waste, he explained, acts as excellent pond fertiliser and raises the biological productivity of the pond and consequently increases fish production and boost rice growth. To help the process, the pigsties are constructed in such a way that the washings are drained to the pond through a delivery channel. Omitoyin said the project could be started on one acre of land. According to him, would-be fish farmers will be taught to integrate rice with fish, poultry or piggery to increase production of yields. This model would help farmers realise so much profit from their investment than running a simple fish farm.

    The integrated system, Omitoyin noted, provides benefits that each component by itself would not be able to achieve, creating more than the sum of its parts.

    He explained that under normal conditions the expected harvest is rice and fish.  With this system, he added that the farmer  is   not  provided with a single product, such as rice, but a range of integrated products including fish, poultry and pig. At present, the farm serves as a rice-based integrated farming system model that other farmers can replicate. The project occupies an expansive area.

    Farmers, students and researchers say it is a model integrated fish farm with rice grown inside a fish pond. It has been attracting local and international tourists, who come to see a demonstration farm where fish bred and integrated with some agricultural products such as rice, pigs and poultry to optimise yields.   He said rice-fish cultivation is a viable  business  and the university is determined  to promote the adoption of the system among  farmers to improve food security on small, subsistence family farms and encourage efficient and effective use of water.

    Because of the success of the project, the university has invited stakeholders and farmers to come and see the demonstration farm. The farm is used to train extension officers, farmers and students on aquaculture. Agriculture and fisheries students also go to the farm for school attachment.

    Omitoyin noted, however, that space, labour and capital must be integrated and properly utilised for optimum farm output. He stated that fisheries and aquaculture are a big source of income, adding that there are lots of business opportunities in fish farming.

    The project signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP-Nigeria) on fingerlings multiplication and dissemination of the integrated fish farming across 12 states in Nigeria.

  • Experts seek investment in integrated transportation system

    Consultant to the World Bank Prof Abel Ogunwale has called for investments in refrigerated railways cargo infrastructure to take care of the growing volume of perishable agro exports.

    Ogunwale of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State,  said this has become necessary as demand for perishables grow and transportation of agro cargo through other modes of transportation has become more expensive.

    According to him, inefficiencies, from the farm gate to the port of exit, increased logistics expenses and travel times  affect  trade in perishable goods.

    He said the roads are feeling the effects of expanding trade in chilled and frozen agro cargoes, and that  the  government  should  support infrastructure improvements to better handle time- and temperature-sensitive commodities.

    Conventional rail terminals, he noted, are typically designed to allow trains stop and discharge passengers and goods, advising that there is need to create cold storage facilities within the  terminal area.

    He urged the government to  construct massive refrigerated  terminals and warehouses that could handle unit trains, adding  that  the  economy is ripe  for  a refrigerated intermodal transportation  service to move containers  packed with fresh produce.

    He said there was need to improve the reliability of refrigerated rail service so shippers can entrust perishables to the railroads.

    President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr. Tola Faseru said considerable investments are necessary for railways to accommodate intermodal containers coming from the ports and roads.

    According to him, turnaround times and proper handling of agro produce by ports should be high on the list of priorities, as slow-steaming continues to have a negative effect on perishable shipments.

    He said a supply chain with road and rail links, ports and cold storage facilities in proximity to one another which favour fresh produce farmers.

    He noted that poor quality of rural roads means high transport costs for farmers. Time delays, according to him, could lead to major product losses for producers.

  • Boosting fish production with integrated rice-fish farms

    Boosting fish production with integrated rice-fish farms

    There is growing interest in researches aimed at improving fish farming globally. Part of the outcome is integrated fish farming approach championed by the University of Ibadan (UI),which involves the use of earthen ponds to raise fish and rice, and using poultry and piggery wastes for fish production. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    To boost fish production,  the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, University of Ibadan has introduced a technology known as fish-rice-pig-poultry integrated aquacul-ture.

    It involves the use of earthen ponds to raise fish and rice. It utilises the waste from, poultry, piggery and agriculture for fish production.

    At the end, the farmer benefits from meat, eggs, rice, and fish.

    The project occupies an expansive area. For farmers, students and researchers it is a model integrated fish farm with rice grown inside a fish pond. It has been drawing local and international tourists who come to see a demonstration farm where fish is cultivated and integrated with some agricultural products such as rice, pigs and poultry to optimise yields.

    Speaking on the farm, the Head of Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, Prof Bamidele Omitoyin, said the fish-rice-pig-poultry integrated aqua-culture project involves using ponds to raise fish and rice and using the waste from pigs and  poultry as  feed for fish. At the end, he said the practice reduces the cost of production and maximises streams of income for the farmer through sale of fish, rice, eggs and pigs.

    Omitoyin said the agriculture sector is faced with the challenges of producing more food for ever increasing population while simultaneously tackling issues of environment conservation and sustain-ability.

    Tackling these challenges,he added, has given impetus to the West and Central Africa Research for Agricultural Development (CORAF/WECARD)-sponsored project on the development of viable and sustainable integrated aquaculture systems with agriculture production for resource poor farmers.

    His words: “This project has two components, namely; Integrated Production of Fish and Rice cum Poultry and Integrated Production of Fish and Rice cum Pig.  The first component is led by a research team from the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, University Ibadan in collaboration with Njala University in Sierra Leone and University of Beau in Cameroon. The second component which is also involves collaboration between the three institutions is led by the research team from Njala University, Sierra Leone. These projects are specifically designed to address the challenges related to decreases in capture-fisheries and the need for accelerated rice, poultry and pig production in West and Central Africa. It started in June 2013 and the project duration is three years. “

    According to him, the major regional target was to improve techniques on integrated crop-aquaculture-livestock production systems and subsequent up-scaling and out-scaling to countries of the West and Central Africa sub-region while the target beneficiaries are 600 integrated rice-aquaculture cum livestock farmers out of which 30 per cent  are women and youth.

    He said the approach gave birth to the establishment of two demonstration plots within the country. “Two adaptive research plots were established on the University of Ibadan fish farm, one for each of the components.”

    So far, he said over 500 farmers have been trained in Nigeria, exceeding the original 200 farmers expected to be trained in the project document for both components. Also,he said  over 700 hundred students have been trained through this process out of which 300 are females.

    Explaining the  reason for growing rice inside a fish pond, Omitoyin said the rice that is  planted  inside the fish  pond  benefits from nutrients which come from fish excreta. In addition, he said the aquatic weeds of rice also get reduced due to fish presence.  In turn, he said the fish benefits from the favourable micro climate created by the presence of rice plants. However, he said rice requires nutrients in the form of inorganic fertilisers which the fish waste provides whereas fish needs nutrients in the form of organic form. The essence of integrating them, he explained, is to allow the circulation of nutrients in different forms.

    He said poultry litter from the poultry farm is recycled into fish pond. The droppings of poultry birds, he added are used to fertilise the pond. To achieve this, he said the chicken waste from the poultry unit built near the pond is washed down through the delivery channel as organic fertiliser for the growing of rice. This, he added, helps farmers to avoid spending money in buying chemical fertiliser.

    The ponds also receive pig dung. This waste, he explained acts as excellent pond fertiliser and raises the biological productivity of the pond and consequently increases fish production and boost rice growth. To help the process, the pigsties are constructed in such a way that the washings are drained to the pond through a delivery channel.

    Omitoyin said the project could be started on one acre of land. He said would- be fish farmers will be taught to integrate rice with fish, poultry or piggery to increase production of yields. This model, according to him, would help farmers to realise so much profit from their investment than running a simple fish farm.

    Because of the success of the project, UI invites stakeholders and farmers to come and see the demonstration farm. The farm is used to train extension officers, farmers and students on aquaculture. Agriculture and fisheries students also go to the farm for school attachment.

    Omitoyin noted however, that space, labour and capital must be integrated and properly utilisfor optimum farm output.

    He stated that fisheries and aquaculture is a big source of incom, and added that there are lots of business opportunities in fish farming.

    The farm is part of the one million United States Dollars CORAF/WECARD project meant for University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Njala University in Sierra Leone and Buea University of Cameroon. Some of the project activities include: rehabilitation and re-stocking of abandoned ponds; develop capacity in sustainable integrated aquaculture techniques and tackle poverty and unemployment among poor vulnerable especially women and children.

    In one of the fora, the university’s WECARD training grant coordinator, Prof Emmanuel Ajani said the research into integrated farming was farmer-generated and meant to tackle challenges of monoculture source of income to farmers.

    He revealed that based on the success of the research into and implementation of findings of the aquaculture integration, the department had been called upon to train 5,000 farmers in Nigeria in the art of poultry-fishery-rice or pig-fishery-rice integration depending on demand.

    “This integrated farming has been helping and will continue to help alleviate poverty and create wealth, as well as employment,” Ajani said.

    The project cover sustainable integrated pond-based aquaculture with rice and poultry production and economic, social and environmental assessment. It deals with poverty eradication and grassroots empowerment through sustainable integrated aquaculture development: fish and rice cum piggery production. The projects are expected to boost fish production in Cameroon, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

    It is expected that when the 1million US dollar project ends after 3 years, enough information on integrated fish-poultry-pig and rice farming will be available to help government and other institutions develop this vital poverty alleviation sector.

    The project have three main components, “the development of suitable integrated fish-rice-poultry production technology through participatory research, expansion of the integrated aquaculture production in a community based demonstration plot and institutional strengthening and integrated capacity building of all stakeholders.

    The Project Director, Dr. Olapade Oluwafemi Julius said the essence of the project is to reduce poverty amongst grassroots dwellers.

    Meanwhile, a  profitability  study  on Integrated Aquaculture with Rice and Poultry Production in West and Central Africa (SIARP-ESEA project) conducted  by  the  university  showed that Integrated fish farming is more profitable than unitary system of farming as it ensures a spread of financial risk for its varied and diversified nature in rearing of fish, animals and crops;

    A Comparative analysis of biological productivity and yield of Integrated Aquaculture system (IAS) with conventional fish pond system showed that mean Food Conversion Ratio and Specific Growth Rate of 1.90± 0.18; 3.96±1.02 (convectional system) and 1.25±0.22; 3.16±0.29 (IAS) were recorded respectively. The total yield of rice harvested after 12 weeks in the paddy area of the pond in IAS was 20kg which can be extrapolated to 3.3tonne/hectare. Extrapolated figures between 1.63t/ha and 2.3t/ha was recorded in conventional system of rice production. Mean egg production of 52±1.50eggs per day and 53±1.0eggs per day were obtained in IAS and convectional system respectively. Water was about 17 times more efficiently utilized by integrated system of rice production than conventional irrigation system. Mean phytoplankton recorded in unfertilised pond was 12.71x 106/l, while 78.18X106/l was recorded after 12 weeks manure loading. Mean zooplankton population in the unfertilised pond was 15.4X106l, and 67.4X106 after 12 weeks of manure loading.

    Four adopted schools have been selected for the project intervention in Nigeria with infrastructure almost at 80 per cent completion in two of the selected adopted schools.

    The project has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP-Nigeria) on fingerlings multiplication and dissemination of the integrated fish farming across twelve states in Nigeria;