The Nation Newspaper

Tag: livestock

  • Govt pledges support for livestock farmers

    Govt pledges support for livestock farmers

    The Federal Government is determined to help livestock farmers generate better yields, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said.

    He spoke at the roll out of the GrowthEnhancement Support (GES) scheme for the Sheep and Goat value chain in Lagos.

    Represented by the state Director, Mrs Kofoworola Adejumo, the Minister said the government was doing a lot to help the feed and food market develop to help the livestock farmers.

    The minister said the government is targeting 5,150 farmers for the sheep and goat value chain under the Growth Enhancement Support(GES) scheme where each farmer is expected to rear at least 10 animals.

    He said the programme is a milestone in the government’s drive to modernise and commercialise agriculture and ensure that farmers are well-positioned and targeted by the programme.

    Under the programme, 150 farmers for ram fattening will receive 10 bags of finished feeds at 50 per cent of the total cost amounting to N18,000, while farmers from the health care will get 10 millilitres of Acaricide and 100 millilitres of de-wormer free.

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolohan Lawal, said the sheep and goat value chain was the second commodity value chain in the livestock sector to roll out support to farmers.

    The Commissioner, who spoke through the Programme Manager, Lagos State Agricultural DevelopmentAuthority(LSADA) Mr Kayode Ashafa said the purpose of the intervention is to contribute more meat to the national need.

    He said the livestock sub-sector has continued to enjoy priority support from the government. To enhance the growth of animal husbandry, the state government has taken steps to boost operations associated with the growth of the sub-sector.

    He said the productivity of the flocks is still hampered by low hatchability, poor peak production and variability in feed quality.

    He said the problems can be managed by implementing stringent breeder farm operating and quality control procedures.

    He said the government is subsiding 50 per cent of the input to farmers.

  • Outbreak of livestock diseases looms, experts warn

    Outbreak of livestock diseases looms, experts warn

    Farmers have been urged to watch out for diseases in live stock as the peak period for infection continues into the month.

    Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof Abiodun Adeloye, warned that the outbreak would occur among livestock.

    He urged farmers to look for signs to allow for early intervention.

    He warned that wet weather, especially heavy showers, could affect livestock, adding that there was need for surveillance around the farms and for farmers to report to relevant authorities as soon as they suspect an outbreak among their animals.

    He said once farmers report such cases before the disease spreads, it would be easy for the officers to put in place control measures.

    Assistant Director and Head, General Management Division, Agricultural and Rural Management and Training Institute (ARMTI) Dr Ademola Adeyemo urged farmers to keep a tab on high risk animals. which may be infected and act quickly if symptoms develop.

     

     

     

  • Concerns over use of antibiotics, pesticides in livestock, crops

    Concerns over use of antibiotics, pesticides in livestock, crops

    There are growing concerns over the use of antibiotics to promote livestock growth. Speaking with The Nation, a don, Dr Ademola Adeyemo of Department of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Institute(ARMTI), Ilorin, said the concerns followed a build-up of antibiotic resistance in humans to some pathogens being passed on through residues of the antibiotics in meat, fish, eggs and dairy produce.

    Urging the government to take steps to control their use, Adeyemo said there was need to protect public health and promote the use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals.

    He urged farmers to tell consumers through their label,the antibiotics that used in rearing animals.

    There is also an outcry on the use of pesticides. Some countries have called for the stoppage of neonicotinoids because of reports linking their use to the decline in honey bees.

    A consultant to the World Bank, Prof Abel Ogunwale told The Nation that irresponsible use of pesticides is a threat to health and the environment.

    He called for safe use of the herbicides,saying pesticides wrongly used could cause soil erosion.

    He said their proper use would prevent soil degradation.

    A crop protection expert, Prof Daniel Gwary, urged farmers to use Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which encompasses using biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools to manage pests.

    Gwary, of University of Maidugari, said pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides could control weed species, harmful insects and numerous plant diseases that afflict crops.

    Without these important crop protection and pest control technologies, he said food production would decline, many fruits and vegetables would be in short supply, and the price of food would rise.

    According to him, crop protection technologies allow producers to increase yields and improve efficiency of the food production processes.

    Though they have negative effects, Gwary said pesticides were vital to crop health.

    He said farmers should use them safely to maximise their benefit and limit risk.

  • Wamakko pays Zakkat with livestock

    Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko has paid part of his Zakkat (poor due) for this year with livestock to the state Zakkat and Endowment Committee.

    Zakkat is the fourth pillar of Islam. It is paid yearly by wealthy Muslims with cash, foodstuffs, livestock and other materials that have universal calculations.

    The chairman of the committee, Alhaji Ahmad Maidoki, announced the payment in Sokoto.

    He said the livestock include: three cows, two sheep and a goat.

    Maidoki noted that the governor’s gesture was the first from any individual.

  • UACN acquires 51% stake in Livestock Feeds

    UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN) has completed acquisition of 51 per cent majority shareholding in Livestock Feeds Plc, entrenching the conglomerate further as Nigeria’s most diversified business group.

    Quoted in the agriculture sector, Livestock Feeds is one of the leading animal feeds producers in the country. The acquisition gives UACN Group one third of the animal feeds industry.

    UACN adopted a two-way secondary and primary market approach to acquire the controlling stake. It acquired some 11 per cent shares of Livestock Feeds through the secondary market and sealed the 51 per cent stake with additional shares purchased through special placement.

    The conglomerate at the weekend confirmed the completion of the deal. The Nation had in February reported exclusively the conclusive phase of the acquisition process. UACN had in July 2012 announced that it had signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Livestock Feeds. The conclusion of the deal followed final approvals of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    With two subsisting quoted subsidiaries, there is strong indication that UACN will allow Livestock Feeds to continue to operate as a stand-alone quoted company while the conglomerate provides managerial and logistics supports to leverage the performance of the agro-allied company.

    Group Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria (UACN) Plc, Mr Larry Ettah, described the acquisition as a move that would redefine the agriculture industry.

    According to him, the acquisition underscores the conglomerate’s strategy to position itself as a portfolio of companies with exposure to the growth segments of the economy.

    He noted that the addition of Livestock Feeds consolidated the conglomerate’s industry position and provided it with immediate opportunity to diversify its manufacturing and sales locations.

    “Further benefits will accrue from the attractive synergies in the supply chain as well as in distribution. We are delighted by the prospect of these outcomes and the value they will add for shareholders of UAC and Livestock Feeds,” Ettah said.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Expert advocates livestock insurance

    The widely reported deaths of cattle has highlighted the need for livestock insurance cover for farmers, an  expert, Professor  Abiodun Adeloye   has said.
    Adeloye, who is of the Department of Animal Production, University of Ilorin, said   farmers need to think about the protection their insurance gives them.
    According to him, accidents are “standard perils”, which should be covered by farm insurance.
    Such losses, he noted, highlighted significant problems for farmers with commercial livestock, sheep and cattle. Considering how commonplace these events are, Adeloye said farmers need livestock insurance to feel better protected.
    The idea with the livestock insurance, he said is to help farmers who lose their animals to severe drought conditions as they often do, to receive monetary compensation to either allow them to restock faster, invest in other productive activities or even purchase food and other items of necessity.
    He said livestock insurance aims to help protect pastoralists against the full impact of drought-related losses. As livestock are both a principal asset and source of income for farmers, he  advised  the  government  to  provide  data on livestock mortality to allow insurance contracts to be appropriately  designed.

    According  to him, the   insurance  programme  will  focus on reducing the vulnerability farmers   face. Such programmes, he explained encourage productivity and returns from livestock-based livelihoods.

    Climate extremities,Adeloye  noted  pose the greatest risks to agricultural production,  harming  and killing  livestock.

    He said livestock insurance was of one of the ways to manage weather-related agricultural risks and that insurance products represent a promising and exciting market-based option for managing climate-related risks faced by poor and remote populations.
    Farmers ,who use  money  to purchase livestock face two risks at once: losing them due to disease and failure of investment. According  to him, they  would like to reduce the uncertainty. For  watchers, the  problems that  will  plague  suppliers of livestock  insurance  service  will be  limited availability and low reliability of data concerning livestock mortality. Thus, all investigated schemes calculated their premiums on very limited data. This leaves the insurer with a great risk of setting the premiums too low and thus endangering its financial sustainability.