Tag: wheat

  • Nigeria eyes 800,000 tons of wheat

    Nigeria eyes 800,000 tons of wheat

    Efforts are being intensified to ensure the availability of wheat to flour millers, biscuit makers, and other consumers. The Federal Government is collaborating with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN), and the Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN) to achieve a target of 800,000 tonnes this year, it was gathered at the weekend.

    Additionally, the Federal Government has decided to eliminate tariffs on wheat and other staples within a 150-day timeframe.

    A recent satellite mapping and remote sensing study on cultivated acreage and yield estimate has unveiled that around 277,577 hectares are presently being cultivated, reflecting a substantial 139per cent surge from last year’s 115,909 hectares. This study, which focused on wheat cultivation in 15 Northern states, was conducted under the AfDB initiative and the National Agricultural Scheme – Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) programme, indicating an expansion in the cultivated area.

    The states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

    This year, Jigawa is cultivating 39,904 hectares of wheat as against 18,288 last year, while Niger is cultivating 42,672 hectares as against 1,466 last year.

    Under a Nigerian Wheat Expansion Project, FMAN is receiving Technical Assistance (TA) support from IDH, an international social enterprise to develop and implement the wheat supply chain towards increasing production capacity.

    The project, spanning three years, aims to empower a total of 25,000 farmers (comprising 5,000 block farmers and 20,000 new smallholder farmers) utilising farms located in four states, namely Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, and Sokoto states. It is anticipated that the Wheat yield will see a 75 per cent increase from the initial 2.0 to 3.5 metric tons (MT). This rise in productivity and the corresponding increase in yield is projected to double farmers’ income compared to the baseline.

    FMAN is expected to offtake 99,450 metric tons of wheat grain from the project farmers (54,450 from block farmers and 45,000 from the non-block farmers across the 4 states). FMAN is raising 20,000 tree seedlings to be distributed to the block farmers.

    Read Also: Nigeria’s wheat output to hit 200,000 tons

    Also, WFAN had assured of its preparedness to cultivate over 350,000 hectares to produce not less than one million metric tonnes, while OCP Nigeria is working with Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), on specialty fertiliser to farmers, to aid accelerated wheat production in Nigeria.

    A recent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grain report said Nigeria will see a 42 percent rise in wheat production between July last year  and this year  owing to a competitive guaranteed price agreed between farmers and millers.

     The report stated that FMAN has signed a memorandum of understanding with WFAN to purchase wheat at a competitive price.

    FMAN has   engaged certified seed companies to produce sufficient improved wheat seeds to plant 10,000 hectares (ha) in both the dry and wet seasons. The project provided input loans to cover 4,300 farmers in seven wheat-producing states: Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Bauchi, and Kaduna.

  • Nigeria’s wheat output to hit 200,000 tons

    Nigeria’s wheat output to hit 200,000 tons

    Nigeria total wheat production output may hit 200,000 tons this year according to the results of a satellite mapping and remote sensing study on cultivated acreage and yield estimates obtained by The Nation.

    The study report which focused on wheat cultivation in 15 northern states was carried under the African Development Bank (AfDB’s) initiative and the National Agricultural Scheme – Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) programme, revealing an increase in cultivated area.

    Read Also: We are studying presidential pronouncement on food import, says Customs

    The states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara. The 15 states are vital areas for the cultivation of wheat and increasing their productivity is crucial to attaining food security in the light of extended drought and other climate shocks.

    As part of its wheat self-sufficiency drive, the government aims to cultivate 250,000 hectares of wheat during the 2023-24 cropping season. If weather conditions cooperate and the security situation on the farms improves, the production target could be achieved.

  • Jobs coming from wheat intervention

    Jobs coming from wheat intervention

    Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria has hailed implementation of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket Wheat Input Package for Dry Season Farming in Nigeria designed by African Development Bank (AfDB) as a boost for food and job creation in Nigeria.

    Chairman, Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kaduna state chapter, Malam Bashir Tanko, who made the remarks in Kaduna told journalists that Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has taken a bold step with the two programmes, noting that the two policies will help boost food security, job creation and improve economic status of wheat farmers across the country.

    According to Tanko, wheat farmers in Kaduna state alone cultivated up to 35,000 hectares of land and produced over 300 tons of wheat in the 2022/ 2023 dry season farming.

    He stated that with its unquantifiable support, the commitment of the Association towards revitalization of wheat farming cannot be overemphasized. He however, urged the National President, Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Musa Shehu Sheka to sustain his good work with the Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Abubakar Kyari for sustainable wheat production in Nigeria.

    Tanko said though the Kaduna state branch has fulfilled all the necessary requirements and sent a list of prospective wheat farmers to the national office of Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria for 2023/2024 wheat input package under GS fertilizer programme, but nothing has been done.

    Read Also: Heirs Insurance Group donates solar power station to Lagos Passport Office

    “It was learnt that 80per cent of the beneficiaries of the scheme are not wheat farmers directly or indirectly. The input went to the politicians, family, friends and business associates. If this negative trend continue it will create uncertainty in the future of wheat farming in Kaduna state.

    “Despite this observed problem, the Association will continue mobilizing wheat farmers to sustain production with the little input they have at hand, while we urge the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to consider Wheat Farmers Association in handling distribution of the input for the survival and improvement of wheat production in Kaduna state and across Nigeria.”

    The Chairman believe that the current agriculture policy implementation by the Federal Government will help restore the glory of agriculture in the country and will also, among other things, help in saving billions of naira spent in importing wheat from other countries.

    Tanko expressed appreciation about this the efforts put in place by Kaduna state government in providing all necessary support to help improve wheat production in the state and promised to justify confidence reposed on them by producing adequate wheat for the nation.

  • ‘Fed Govt to cultivate 70,000 hectares wheat farms’

    ‘Fed Govt to cultivate 70,000 hectares wheat farms’

    The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said the Federal Government will cultivate 70,000 hectares wheat farms this dry season in Jigawa.

    Kyari said this when he paid homage to the Emir of Hadejia, Alhaji Adamu Abubakar-Maje, yesterday in Hadejia.

    The minister had conducted facility tour at Malam Alu Farm in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area and a 10 hectares rice farm at Marma, a farming community between Kirikasamma and Guri LGAs.

    Kyari said the tour was part of the ministry’s fact finding mission to appraise the preparedness of the Jigawa government and the selected demonstration farms for growing high breed wheat seeds.

    Read Also: Fed Govt secures $163m AfDB loan for wheat production

    He said the decision to start the demonstration farms in Jigawa was informed by Governor Umar Namadi’s zeal and commitment towards making the state one of the leading wheat growers in the country.

    The state, he said, allocated 70,000 hectares of land to the ministry for wheat cultivation, adding that President Bola Tinubu was commited to enhance food security through effective utilisation of smart agriculture in the country.

    While interacting with farmers at Marma village, Kyari said the ministry would distribute improved variety seeds for irrigation activities to boost food security programme in the country.

    He said the federal government had made adequate arrangements to equip wheat growers with the necessary farming implements.

    He said the ministry had set up a climate change monitoring committee with the responsibility of providing experts assistance on wheather related issues to the growers from planting to harvesting period.

    Responding, Abubajar-Maje, commended the federal  government for choosing Jigawa as pioneer state of the wheat programme.

    Represented by Alhaj Usman AbdulAziz, the Galadiman Hadejia, the Emir called for the commencement of the wheat season in earnest, adding that, “the time to start planning for growing wheat is now”.

    The royal father admonished farmers selected for participation in the programme to reciprocate the gesture by being honest in their operations.

  • Fed Govt targets production of 875,000 MT of wheat

    Fed Govt targets production of 875,000 MT of wheat

    The Federal government says it is targeting to produce wheat over 70, 000 hectares across the wheat production zone of the country with an expected yield of 875,000 metric tonnes for the country’s food  reserve.

    This, it said, is an implementation of the dry season wheat production starting in November 2023 as part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) projects funded by the African Development Bank.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abubakar Kyari, who stated this during a press briefing in Abuja said there will also be blending of appropriate fertilisers to support this year’s dry season farming while making provisions for next year farming season.

    Other targets under the scheme, he said, include: providing train-the-trainer for extension agents involved in dry season farming in collaboration with wheat producing states and other partners such as flour mills.

    Read Also: Fed Govt secures $163m AfDB loan for wheat production

    Furthermore, he said, arrangements are also at an advanced stage for dry season farming of rice, maize and other horticultural crops.

    He, however, noted that the ministry would hold the National Agriculture and Food Security Summit in November 2023 to bring all stakeholders together for development of the National Action Plan for Food Security with an implementation and sustainability strategy.

    Kyari added that the ministry will review the mechanisms and processes for delivering fertilisers and agro pesticides input to farmers under a transparent and accountable regime.

    The minister said they will also distribute pasture seeds and cuttings for dry season pasture and fodder development for livestock productivity beginning November 2023.

    He said: “Under this scheme, the target is to produce wheat over 70, 000 hectares across the wheat production zone of the country with an expected yield of 875,000 metric tonnes for our food reserve.”

  • 20 ships laden with wheat, others berth at Lagos ports

    More than 20 ships laden with steel, wheat, fertiliser petrol and other products have berthed at Lagos Port Complex (LPC) between last week and today, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), said.

    Findings revealed that five of the vessels, Tai Splendor, Thor Monadic, Ru Chang Hai, Desert Spring and Night Hawk vessels were laden with wheat, while Skyros, Rainbold Harmony and Diamond Canakkale carried bulk fertiliser.

    It was gathered that some of the vessels such as African Robin, Wine Trader, Desert Oasis, Night Hawk and Carolina Star were laden with 12550Mt of steel, 5700Mt of bulk sugar, 49140Mt of CPO, 47800Mt of bulk wheat and 10720Mt of general cargo.

    It was also gathered that four ships are also waiting to berth with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)petrol, while the remaining ones would berth with aviation fuel, diesel and fertiliser.

    Investigation also showed that additional 20 ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected in Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports between this week and next week.

    The ships being expected are bringing bulk wheat, containers, steel, frozen fish, empty containers, base oil, butane gas, bulk fertilizer, general cargo and petrol.

     

  • Over 12m farmers join rice, wheat revolution, says Buhari

    Over 12m farmers join rice, wheat revolution, says Buhari

    Over 12.2 million farmers have joined the rice and wheat initiative of the Federal Government, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

    Buhari added that the administration’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which is already a success would gradually move  the country to self-sufficiency in major grains.

    The President spoke at the 25th edition of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) Ceremony held in Lagos on Wednesday.

    Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the success of the agric revolution has turned thousands of rice farmers into millionaires and drastically reduced rice importation.

    ‘’Apart from the successes we have achieved in tackling insecurity and fighting corruption, perhaps our most remarkable progress has been in the area of agriculture. Quietly but steadily, our agriculture revolution is bearing fruits.

    ‘’According to the Rice Exporters of Thailand, rice imports from Thailand fell from 644,131 tons in Sept 2015 to 20,000 tons in Sept. 2017, representing a 95 per cent drop,’’Buhari said.

    He noted that self-sufficiency in rice is so important because it is the most widely consumed staple in Nigeria, and also because Nigeria’s daily expenditure on rice for over three decades stood at $5 million.

    The president said Nigeria is also doing well in Millet, Sorghum and Maize cultivation, adding: ‘’We are now the second largest producer of sorghum after the US, the third in millet after India and our breweries are now enjoying local sourcing of those commodities.

    “For maize, we are producing 10 million tons while we need about 13 million tons for both human and animal nutrition.’’

    The President also said Nigeria is world’s leader in yam and cassava production and that efforts are being made to restore and improve on the country’s ranking in cocoa production, where it has fallen from 2nd to 7th position.

    ‘’We are also investing in a new line of tree crops targeting local and foreign end users and we are certain to earn foreign exchange. These are shea butter, palm trees, coconut, mangoes, bananas and plantains, kenaf and sisal hemp, castor and pineapple, among others.

    “Overall, our ambition is that agriculture should rise from 25 per cent to 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) so that we can banish poverty and overcome our economic anxiety,’’ president Buhari said.

    He hailed the NMMA, which he called the preeminent media excellence award, and said the Nigeria media has done well over the years hence it deserves to be celebrated.

  • Wheat, sorghum imports cost N428b

    Nigerians spent  over N428 billion on20 the importation of wheat and sorghum in 2015, Central Bank of Nigeria  (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefeile has said.

    He spoke in Kano during the inauguration of the Northern Nigeria Flour Mill Plc’s Sorghum Milling Plant.

    The facility which is  expected to serve as a local source for raw materials, is  estimated to have cost N2 billion.

    Emefiele, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Cooperate Service Directorate, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, said the huge spent bills on the importation of these products, informed the decision of the apex bank to boost and sustain the local production of agric products, such as rice, wheat, cassava, fish and poultry, among others.

    He said 513 projects across the country have been financed by Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS), adding that a total of 604 projects have equally been financed under  the Real Sector Refinancing Project (RSFP).

    He said these interventions are the outcome of the collaboration between the apex bank and the Presidential Task Force on Food Security, aimed at boasting agricultural production, employment and wealth creation.

    Emefiele said the CBN will continue to support any venture that will save the nation’s foreign exchange, an area where the firm has demonstrated strong commitment to pursue.

    In her remarks, Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aihsa Abubakar, said the commissioning of the milling plant was unique in the sense that it would serve as a real boost in sourcing raw materials locally and will have positive impacts on local farmers/out growers.

    She said the commissioning of the plant directly aligned with the vision of the administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP),  designed to promote and sustain an inclusive growth in the implementation of Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) .

    She said the plan also focused on areas in which Nigeria has comparative advantage that would guarantee competiveness in the global market and increase manufacturing contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years.

    The minister said the plan, which was presently being implemented, would strategically unlock bottlenecks militating against the growth and development of the industrial sector, adding that government was also reducing the encumbrances that were affecting industrial development.

  • Why we should stop eating wheat foods

    We will take a brief vacation today from the ongoing running series on CHRONIC INSOMNIA AND TRAINLOAD OF TROUBLES, which has run in two parts. The series is yielding ground to two publications, which have been making the rounds in many chat groups on the social media, including some of the friendship groups to which I belong.

    When I first read about the dangers of eating wheat, I almost responded like a Doubting Thomas. Wheat?, I wondered. We have eaten wheat since goodness knows when! Until the Nigerian bread market became fraudulent, mixing white flour with wheat flour and passing it off as whole wheat flour and bread, I ate wheat bread for breakfast almost everyday. The shocking discovery is that man has now done to wheat what they have done, and are doing, to other food crops, modifying them from the way Mother Nature gave us these food crops and transforming them into states that would make them grow faster, more resistant to infections, keep longer and yield more money in the market. Quite naturally, the transformation alters, also, the natural ratios in which the constituents co-exist, and yield new radiations which the body now has to adapt to.

    The second article, on asparagus, a long-known kidney cleansing herb, is considered for a mention in this column in the state in which it has been lifted from the social media because it may have, as suggested, an important role to play in the cure of cancer and other diseases which plague us today not only in Nigeria but worldwide.

    My apologies go to the authors of these articles and to other original sources, which may have been lost through posting and reposting on the social media. Because of this it is not possible to give them their due credit for the publication. Nevertheless, I thought of republishing them because it is the wish of this authors and sources that this be done because of the health they believe doing so will afford the health of humanity…

    The wheat

    Belly…

    Read this article it will change your life if you remove all the (wheat) bread; roti, cakes, biscuits, pizzas, Samoosa etc from your diet.

    Dr. Tandweer Khan

    Healthaholics

    • Do You Have A “Wheat Belly”?*

    A renowned cardiologist explains how eliminating wheat can shrink your belly…and save your health.

    • Cardiologist William Davis, MD, started his career repairing damaged hearts through surgical angioplasty and stents.
    • That’s what I was trained to do, and at first, that’s what I wanted to do,” he explains. But when his own mother died of a heart attack in 1995, despite receiving the best cardiac care, he was forced to face nagging concerns about his profession.*

    “I realised how silly it was,” he says. “I’d fix a patient’s heart, only to see her come back, and back and back with the same problems. It was just a band-aid, with no effort to identify the cause of the disease.”

    So, he sailed his practice toward highly uncharted medical territory–prevention–and spent the next 15 years examining the causes of heart disease in his own patients.

    The resulting discoveries are revealed in Wheat Belly, his New York Times best-selling book, which attributes many of our nation’s physical problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity, to our consumption of wheat.

    He spoke to us this week about how exactly eliminating wheat can “transform our lives.”

    • First of all, what is a “wheat belly”?*

    I make a lot of arguments about the dangers of wheat, one of which is that it raises your blood sugar dramatically. In fact, two slices of wheat bread raise your blood sugar more than a Snickers bar.

    When my patients give up wheat, I see that weight loss is substantial, especially from the abdomen. People can lose several inches in the first month.You make connections in the book between wheat and a host of other health problems.

    How did you come up with this theory?

    Eighty percent of my patients had diabetes or pre-diabetes.

    I knew that wheat spiked blood sugar more than almost anything else, so I started to say, “Let’s remove wheat from your diet and see what happens to your blood sugar.” They’d come back 3 to 6 months later, and their blood sugar would be dramatically reduced.

    But they also had all these other reactions:

    “I removed wheat and I lost 38 pounds.” Or, “my asthma got so much better, I threw away two of my inhalers.” Or “the migraine headaches I’ve had every day for 20 years stopped within three days.” “My acid reflux is now gone.”

    “My IBS is better, my ulcerative colitis, my rheumatoid arthritis, my mood, my sleep…” and so on, and so on.

    So what is it about wheat that you think causes all these problems?

    When you look at the makeup of wheat, it’s almost like a group of evil scientists got together and said, how can we create this god-awful destructive food that will ruin health?

    First, amylopectin A, a chemical unique to wheat, is an incredible trigger of small LDL particles in the blood–the number one cause of heart disease on the United States.

    When wheat is removed from the diet, these small LDL levels plummet by 80 and 90 percent.

    We’ve had a situation where the national advice–to cut fat and eat more whole grains–is advocating a diet that causes heart disease.

    You also talk about the “addictive” properties of wheat.

    Wheat contains high levels of gliadin, a protein that actually stimulates appetite. Eating wheat increases the average person’s calorie intake by 400 calories a day.

    Gliadin also has opiate-like properties in the brain, so it’s not surprising that when some people remove wheat from their diets, they literally go through a period of withdrawal where they feel terrible.

    Food scientists have known this for 20 years, and they’ve used it to their advantage. If you go up and down the supermarket shelves, you’re going to see wheat flour in the most improbable places—everywhere from Campbell’s soup to granola bars.

    Is eating a wheat-free diet the same as a gluten-free diet? I know that’s a major trend right now.

    Gluten has negative, inflammatory properties, but it is just one component of wheat.

    In other words, if I took the gluten out of it, wheat will still be terrible for you since it will still have the Gliadin and the amylopectin A, as well as several other undesirable components.

    They’ve come out with all these foods that are gluten free: gluten-free multi-grain bread, gluten-free bagels, etc.

    Those are made with 4 basic ingredients: corn starch, rice starch, tapioca starch or potato starch.

    And those 4 dried, powdered starches are some of the very few foods that raise blood sugar even higher than wheat does!Sounds like all the “fat free” foods that came out 10-15 years ago. People thought “these cookies are good for me because they don’t have fat.”Perfect analogy. Yes, it’s the same kind of blunder.

    What about the the health breads and the sprouted breads?

    No. They still retain too much of the adverse wheat compounds–leptins, amylopectin A, gluten and gliadin. You might reduce the amount of some of the compounds, but they’re still there.

    I encourage people to return to real food: vegetables and nuts, unpasteurized cheese and eggs and meats in all forms, avocados and olives.

    People have been eating it for thousands of years, why is it suddenly such a problem?

    Wheat really changed in the 70s and 80s due to a series of techniques used to increase yield, including hybridization and back crossings. It was bred to be shorter and sturdier and also to have more gliadin, a potent appetite stimulate.

    The wheat we eat today is not the wheat that was eaten 100 years ago. Wheat has also become a much more central part of the American diet.

    What if I remove the wheat, but I’m still eating carbohydrates?

    So, for example, I stop eating my sandwich every day, and I start eating rice with chicken and vegetables. Will I still have the health benefits? Will I still lose weight?Most do, yes. Because rice doesn’t raise blood sugar as high as wheat, and it also doesn’t have the amylopectin A or the gliadin that stimulates appetite. You won’t have the same increase in calorie intake that wheat causes.

    That’s part of the reason why foreign cultures that don’t consume wheat tend to be slenderer and healthier.Does everyone need to stop eating wheat, or are some people more at risk for these problems than others?

    If you ask me, everyone should stop eating wheat. This is the closest I know of to something that will transform your life.

    Does Asparagus hold cancer cure hope?

    When I was in the USN I was stationed in Key West, FL. I worked at the clinic at Naval Air Station on Big Coppitt Key just a few mile north of Key West. The hospital at Key West was for out patient only for retired armed forces personnel that lived in the area. If you needed to be hospitalized you were sent to Homestead AFB Florida. I had the day off and just went inside the hospital(Corpman barracks were next to hospital). There was a retired navy man that worked in the lab and he was very interesting gentleman to talk with. He was a retired biochemist from the USN. he asked me what was going on that day and I  said I had the day off. I wish I was working as the crew on today was taking a sailor to Homestead as he had a very bad kidney infection.

    Now this elderly gent told me the man should have eaten more asparagus and he wouldn’t have that problem. I asked why? I’ll never forget him saying do you eat asparagus and I said yes, I love them.

    He replied you notice how your urine stinks after eating asparagus? I said well I never thought it was what I ate but yes it does have a pungent odour. It is because it is detoxifying your body of harmful chemicals!!!

    This was back in 1986 when I was stationed there and to read this email again I had to share this story…Eat more asparagus my friends.

    Asparagus — Who knew?

    My Mom had been taking the full-stalk canned style asparagus, pureed it and took 4 tablespoons in the morning and 4 tablespoons later in the day. She did this for over a month. She is on chemo pills for Stage 3 lung cancer in the pleural area and her cancer cell count went from 386 down to 125 as of this past week. Her oncologist said she will not need to see him for 3 months.

     

    THE ARTICLE:

    Several  years ago I met a man seeking asparagus for a friend who had cancer. He gave me a copy of an article, entitled “Asparagus For Cancer” printed in the Cancer News Journal, December 1979. I will share it here, just as it was shared with me: I am a biochemist, and have specialised in the relation of diet to health or over 50 years.

    Several years ago, I learned of the discovery of Richard R. Vensal, D.D.S. that asparagus might cure cancer. Since then, I have worked with him on his project. We have accumulated a number of favourable case histories.

    Here are a few examples:

    Case No. 1, A man with an almost hopeless case of Hodgkin’s disease (cancer of the lymph glands) who was completely incapacitated.  Within 1 year of starting the asparagus therapy, his doctors were unable to detect any signs of cancer, and he was back on a schedule of strenuous exercise.

    Case No. 2, A successful businessman, 68 years old, suffered from cancer of the bladder for 16 years. After years of medical treatments, including radiation without improvement, he began taking asparagus. Within 3 months, examinations revealed that his bladder tumour had disappeared and that his kidneys were normal.

    Case No. 3, On March 5th 1971, a man who had lung cancer was put on the operating table where they found lung cancer so widely spread that it was inoperable. The surgeon sewed him up and declared his case hopeless. On April 5th he heard about the Asparagus therapy and immediately started taking it. By August, x-ray pictures revealed that all signs of the cancer had disappeared. He is now back at his regular business routine.

    Case No. 4, A woman had been troubled for a number of years with skin cancer. She developed different skin cancers which were diagnosed by the acting specialist as advanced. Within 3 months after beginning asparagus therapy, the skin specialist said her skin looked fine with no more skin lesions. This woman reported that the asparagus therapy also cured her kidney disease, which had started in 1949. She had over 10 operations for kidney stones, and was receiving government disability payments for an inoperable, terminal, kidney condition. She attributes the cure of this kidney trouble entirely to the asparagus treatment.

    I was not surprised at this result as ‘The elements of materia medica’, edited in 1854 by a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania , stated that asparagus was used as a popular remedy for kidney stones. He even referred to experiments, in 1739, on the power of asparagus in dissolving stones. Note the dates!

    We would have other case histories but the medical establishment has interfered with our obtaining some of the records. I am therefore appealing to readers to spread this good news and help us to gather a large number of case histories that will overwhelm the medical skeptics about this unbelievably simple and natural remedy.

    For the treatment, asparagus should be cooked before using. Fresh or canned asparagus can be used. I have corresponded with the two leading canners of asparagus, Giant and Stokely, and I am satisfied that these brands contain no pesticides or preservatives.

    Place the cooked asparagus in a blender and liquefy to make a puree. Store in the refrigerator. Give the patient 4 full tablespoons twice daily, morning and evening.

    Patients usually show some improvement in 2-4 weeks. It can be diluted with water and used as a cold or hot drink.

    This suggested dosage is based on present experience, but certainly larger amounts can do no harm and may be needed in some cases.

    As a biochemist I am convinced of the old saying that ‘what cures can prevent.’ Based on this theory, my wife and I have been using asparagus puree as a beverage with our meals. We take 2 tablespoons diluted in water to suit our taste with breakfast and with dinner. I take mine hot and my wife prefers hers cold.

    For years we have made it a practice to have blood surveys taken as part of our regular checkups. The last blood survey, taken by a medical doctor who specializes in the nutritional approach to health, showed substantial improvements in all categories over the last one, and we can attribute these improvements to nothing but the asparagus drink.

    As a biochemist, I have made an extensive study of all aspects of cancer, and all of the proposed cures. As a result, I am convinced that asparagus fits in better with the latest theories about cancer.

    Asparagus contains a good supply of protein called histones, which are believed to be active in controlling cell growth. For that reason, I believe asparagus can be said to contain a substance that I call cell growth normalizer. That accounts for its action on cancer and in acting as a general body tonic In any event, regardless of theory, asparagus used as we suggest, is a harmless substance. The FDA cannot prevent you from using it and it may do you much good. It has been reported by the US National Cancer Institute, that asparagus is the highest tested food containing glutathione, which is considered one of the body’s most potent anti carcinogens and antioxidants.

    Just a side note…In case you are wondering why this has not been made public, there is no profit in curing cancer!

    Please send this article to everyone in your Address Book. The most unselfish act one can ever do is paying forward all the kin(truncated by WhatsApp)

  • ‘Nigeria saves $5m daily from ban on wheat importation’

    The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s policy on the ban of importation of rice and wheat has enabled the country to save $5 million daily.

    Ogbeh  spoke in Garun Baba Village in Kano during the 2017 Wheat Farm Harvest ceremony.

    He said: “The tariff increase introduced in December last year saw the import duty on rice increased from 10 to 60 percent in an effort to increase local production of the product.”

    Ogbeh added that the policy option had created wealth for farmers and those in the farm produce value chain.

    “The rice you grow, the wheat you grow is saving Nigeria a lot of money. Before now we were spending $5 million a day importing rice from Thailand. Now that money is in the hands and pockets of farmers in Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi and other parts of the country.

    “That is why farmers are getting richer, before now the money was going to some other places and the poverty was coming here, that era is gone,” he noted.

    He said the figure represented the amount of money being spent on the importation of those farm produce before the ban and tariff increase policies were introduced about a year ago.

    Ogbeh commended Kano State Government and farmers for the rice, saying it has expelled recession from the state and supplied food to needy states.

    ‘’I’m proud of you and thank you for all your effort. I know if we give you the right support as we are trying to do, you can feed the whole nation and there will be no hunger in Nigeria,” he added.

    He said further production was being encouraged through reduction of fertiliser price to N6,000 a bag by the government via an arrangement with the Moroccan Government.

    On herdsmen/farmers’ clashes and cattle rustling, the minister said grazing reserves were being created across the federation, with accommodation, human and veterinary clinics, water and schools, among others, to stop herdsmen from roaming about.

    “Similarly, the good news is that 3,000 Civil Defence operatives are being trained by the Nigeria Army to combat issues of cattle rustling perpetrated on those rearing cattle by hoodlums,” he noted.

    On the occasion, the Governor , Dr. Abdulahi Umar Ganduje, said the wheat being harvested was a by-product of a N100 million interest-free loan extended to 10,000 farmers in the state late last year.

    He said the farmers were also given moratorium not to pay the loan immediately so that they could re-invest the money in their farms as well as introduce new measures on harvest and post harvest.

    “To prevent post-harvest losses, the state government has made available the sum of N50 million naira as loan for them to tap into and meet their immediate needs in order to stop them from selling the wheat product at low price,” Ganduje said.

    He said combined harvester machines have been provided to ease the process of harvesting the wheat, adding that warehouses and stores have been provided in various parts of the state for the farmers to store their products till the point of sales free of charge, adding that “wheat millers and sellers will be mobilised to buy the produce when farmers are ready to sell.”