The Nation Newspaper

Tag: yields

  • Surge in Nigeria bonds drags down yields

    Nigeria’s local-currency bonds are on a roll, rising for the last eight days and driving their yields below Turkey’s for the first time in more than two years.

    The average rate on Nigerian government bonds has fallen around 400 basis since an August-peak to 13 percent. Yields are now 100 basis points below the central bank’s benchmark interest rate of 14 per cent, where its been held since July 2016.

    Investors have piled into the naira market thanks to slowing inflation, a stable currency and rising Brent crude prices, which climbed about 25 per cent in the past six months to more than $70 a barrel. In contrast, they’ve turned bearish on Turkey, which has the worst-performing local bonds in emerging markets this year, because of accelerating inflation and loose monetary policy.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, may be tempted to commence his long-touted easing cycle and help revive an economy that has faltered since the 2014 oil crash. While that would reduce the attractiveness of naira assets, Nigerian yields are still high relative to other major emerging markets. Aside from Turkey, Argentina and Egypt’s bonds are the only ones to yield more in the Bloomberg Barclays EM Local Currency Index.

  • Fed Govt’s Savings Bond opens for investors at high yields

    The Federal Government has offered for subscription two-year and three-year Savings Bonds to investors at 13.535 per cent and 14.535 per cent. The monthly offer opens today and ends on Friday.

    A statement from the Debt Management Office (DMO) said the two-year bond will be due in August 2019 and the three-year bond has a maturity date of August 2020.

    The offer has a minimum subscription of N5,000 with increases thereafter in multiples of N1,000 up to a maximum subscription of N50 million.

    The Debt Office said the bond is backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government, with quarterly coupon payments to bondholders.

    The DMO stated that the savings bond will help broaden the country’s funding base.

    The Federal Government Savings Bond is targeted primarily at retail investors to enable them contribute to the development of the country, while also earning good returns on a safe investment in a Sovereign instrument.

    It was launched by the DMO in March and is issued every month through stockbroking firms trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It promotes savings culture and enhances financial inclusion.

    Since its introduction, the bond has attracted a lot of new investors to the FGN Securities market with its attractive features.

    The income earned on the bond is exempted from taxes and it can be traded in the secondary market on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

  • CBN to raise N213b in T-Bills at higher yields

    CBN to raise N213b in T-Bills at higher yields

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to offer N212.85 billion ($675 million) in Treasury bills maturing between 91-days and one-year on August 31.

    The bank said it would sell N45.85 billion worth of the 91-day bills, N62 billion of the 182-day paper and N105 billion of the 1-year debt. Payment for the purchase will be effected on Thursday, the bank said in a public notice.

    The T-bills’ maturities range between three months and a year and would be raised today, according to the CBN. T-bills are marketable short-term money market securities that serve the purpose of raising money for the government and also help in monetary policy management of the CBN.

    The CBN issues treasury bills to raise cash to fund the government budget deficit, help manage banking system liquidity and curb rising inflation.

    The CBN had on August 3, raised N245.18 billion ($773.44 million) worth of T-bills to settle short-term obligations. The CBN issued N45.18 billion in three-month debt, N80 billion of six-month paper and N120 billion of one year bills in a Dutch auction, traders said. Indicative rates for the auction are 16 per cent for three-months, 18 per cent for six-months and 18.5 per cent for one-year bills. The auction’s results will be published the day after the sale.

    The main investors in government securities are mainly pension funds and commercial banks which control more than 60 per cent of the market, followed by insurance funds and a few micro-finance institutions.

    Yields on fixed income securities have been rising in recent months with the CBN mopping up naira liquidity to try to lure back foreign investors who sold naira assets following the plunge in the price of oil, Nigeria’s economic mainstay.

    The bank lifted interest rates by 200 basis points last week to 14 per cent to help fight inflation, which hit a 10-year high of 16.5 per cent in June.

  • ACAI, others to boost cassava yields

    ACAI, others to boost cassava yields

    Cassava Adding Value for Africa Phase II (CAVA II) and some  institutions of higher learning are to promote disease-resistant cassava stems to help farmers improve their yields.

    The institutions include Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora, and the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure.

    This was disclosed at the International Farmers Field Day at the institutions.

    The event organised by CAVA II drew participants from five African countries – Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria.

    Participants urged farmers to adopt best practices in cassava cultivation, which could make them to harvest between 30 and 50 tonnes of cassava per hectare.

    CAVA II Project Director Prof. Kolawole Adebayo said his organisation had made efforts to improve the growth of the cassava industry and livelihoods of small farmers.

    He hinted that the project has opened new markets for about 200,000 cassava farmers in the countries.

    According to him, CAVA II intervention has helped increase the number of small producers who supply cassava to processing industries.

    Some of the new markets created by this project, he said, included production of ethanol, cassava chips, flour for industrial use and starch.

    He said the success of the first phase of CAVA I project, which began in 2008 and ended in 2014, led to the emergence of the second phase – CAVA II Project in 2014.

    Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology Provost Prof. Gbemiga Adewale thanked CAVA Phase II for choosing the college for the project.

    He added that the institution was given the privilege to own plots for the cultivation of varieties of cassava for demonstration to local farmers.

    On the essence of the conference, he said the programme was organised to bring stakeholders from five African countries together to learn modern agronomic practices in cassava production.

    Adewale said with improved agronomic practices, farmers could double  their yields and control market prices.

    Meanwhile, the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) project has stepped up efforts to bridge the cassava yield gap in Africa. To accomplish this, the project has engaged key actors in Nigeria and Tanzania ranging from farmers, researchers, extension services, development workers, processors as well as input dealers notably fertiliser manufacturing companies associated with successful  cassava production.

    ACAI Project Coordinator Dr Abdulai Jalloh stressed that to improve the production of cassava, it became necessary to  establish contacts among actors to learn and share information that would benefit ACAI partners.

    Jalloh noted that though the entry point of ACAI is to address yield gap, it is imperative for strategic considerations of the cassava value chain and inclusiveness of all.

    To this end, the Africa Soil Health Consortium in collaboration with the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), is leading the engagement of key stakeholders in target countries.

    According to him, ACAI is conscious of the mistakes of the past, where bottlenecks were considered in isolation irrespective of other ones and even those that could occur as a result of concentrating on only one aspect.

  • USAID trains service providers on cocoa yields

    USAID trains service providers on cocoa yields

    The United States Agency for International Development USAID/Nigeria is training major service providers in key cocoa producing states on vegetative propagation to address the dearth of planting materials.

    The industry is faced with low productivity at less than 350 tonnes/hectare and needs cocoa seedlings to cultivate much-needed new cocoa plantations.

    According to experts, investments in new plantation are required to replace and expand existing cocoa estates, most which were cultivated in the pre-independence era.

    The Lead Facilitator, Dr Daniel Adewale of the Department of Crop Science and Horticulture, Federal University of Oye–Ekiti, Ekiti State, noted: “Nigeria is no longer getting full economic benefits from growing cocoa because most cocoa fields are old and small as well as the poor genetic qualities of the planting materials used.”

    To this end, he noted that the cultivation of cocoa is no longer a profitable crop for many farmers and as a result of this, the nation’s quantity and quality of cocoa is declining.

    Adewale, who is a former scientist with the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), noted that Nigeria produces less than 500kg of dry bean per hectare.

    “This very low level of cocoa production has made it necessary to change protocol of production,” he argued.

    He continued: “Vegetative propagation is the best way to ensure increased production of high quality cocoa pods or beans instead of seedling cultivation because it enables multiplicity and commercialisation of high-yielding strains.”

    The crop scientist further explained that vegetative propagation makes it possible to multiply desired cocoa varieties thereby ensuring “quick replication of highly productive planting materials, production of uniform trees with shortened gestation period and cocoa plants are protected against diseases.”

    Consultant to the USAID/Nigeria NEXTT project, Mr Remi Osijo, identified the massive investment opportunities in the cocoa and the possible of further growth if young farmers are supported to expand their farms from less than one hectare to about five hectares.

    “There was an urgent need to encourage investments in commercial cultivation of nuclear cocoa estates not just for increased productivity but because the scale of the operations and services that will be rendered. This will ultimately address quality issues of Nigeria’s cocoa beans as the fermentation, drying, ware housing and branding will be done appropriately and these services will certainly be extended to the atomised/local farmers around the estate.

    “Just imagine the scale and number of jobs that will be created from this venture with Nigeria earning more revenue as premium price will certainly be paid for such standardised cocoa beans all over the world,” Osijo said.

    A Senior Researcher at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Dr Ranjana Bhattacharjee, stressed the  need for Nigeria to quickly bridge the gap in its cocoa production.

    He said: “Globally, the chocolate and cocoa industry are in crisis due to low productivity which is failing to meet a growing demand that is increasing by two per cent annually,” hence the need for Nigeria to urgently seize this opportunity growing global demand by increasing its falling cocoa production.

  • Tackling poor rice yields

    Tackling poor rice yields

    Lack of quality rice planting materials is responsible for poor yields. Stakeholders are canvassing supply of high quality crop planting materials to small-scale farmers for maximum yields, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    For a rice farmer in Lagos State, Abdul Ghaniyu Alabi Ojolowo, accessibility to high quality rice is the key to achieving better food security and escaping poverty.

    This, however, depends on several factors, including good seeds. For most of the farmers, birds eat some of the crops, leading to losses sometimes. Others lack proper drying facilities, which force them to dry the rice on bare ground, which contaminate it with stones. This lowers the quality of the rice.

    The cost of pesticides they use to spray the rice to control diseases, such as wilt is expensive. The other reason farmers are not making headway in yields is that they don’t have access to high yielding varieties for planting.

    A trained accountant, Ojolowo, who went into rice farming after quitting his job with a private firm, maintained that although the business is well-paying; there are a number of challenges. When he decided to take on the venture, he got some basic lessons in rice growing and relied on the advice of elders in the business. Later on, he got in touch with Lagos State Rice for Job project and was exposed to modern rice cultivation practices.

    As far as rice is concerned, Ojolowo noted that no one could expect domestically grown rice to be competitive. He has confirmed this from his experience. A certain portion of the population prefers imported rice than buying domestically grown rice.

    But for the Deputy Managing Director, Kewalram Chanrai Group and Director, Spring Field Agro Limited, Mr Victor Eburajolo, farmers can only boost their livelihoods by exploiting agronomical practices that improve their yields using improved seeds, pesticides and fungicides. He believes rice production can pull a lot of Nigerians out of hunger because 60 per cent of the nation’s arable land is good for farming.

    While local production has been on the decline, Eburajolo wouldn’t want rice importation to continue under any guise and so canvasses national efforts to equip and empower local farmers.

    To this end, he is in support of the government boosting local rice production and reducing imports of the commodity.

    This attitude, he noted, is motivating the private sector to embark on aggressive and sustained interventions to make Nigeria a food basket, thereby reducing rice importation. For him, governments and private investors’ partnership should enrich rice farmers to deliver good produce.

    However, Eburajolo contended that farmers can only boost their yields by planting high-quality hybrid seeds, and using the recommended amount of fertiliser.

    Currently, the average rice yield nationwide stands at about three tonnes per hectare, which is far lower than the international average of six tonnes per hectare. This is attributed to low hybrid seed uptake amongst the smallholder farmers.

    Part of the blame goes to poor access to quality certified hybrid seed by small-holder farmers. To bridge this gap, Eburajolo said his organisation is partnering with RiceCo, a subsidiary of United Phosphorus Limited of the United States to produce rice dedicated fertiliser and rice hybrid seed as a way of boosting food productivity in the country.

    He said RiceCo was founded to meet the specific technology needs of rice farmers, stating that his company is encouraged to go into rice production by the government’s pledge to create an enabling environment  for agriculture to be transformed into a viable business.

    International Operations Director, RiceCo, Pinky Ghosh, expressed concern that farmers are not making enough money from rice cultivation. This is as a result of not using quality seeds and farm inputs.

    As part of the benefits of the partnership, Ghosh said her organisation will work with Spring Field Agro Limited to enable smallholder farmers’plant hybrid rice seeds and good management practices to boost yields per hectare. According to her, an improved quality of rice is the key to bigger farm incomes and taking the crop to new and more profitable markets.

    For years now, she said her organisation has been producing hybrid rice seed and dedicated fertilisers for use by local communities.

    Experience, she added, has shown that a little capacity building can change the situation within a very short period.

    In addition, she said farmers  need advice on modern farm technologies that will help to expand the production cycle and increase their rice production and profit.

    She said improving on milling is the way forward for the industry. More efficient mills, she noted, will trigger higher productivity and usher in quality improvements at the farm level.

    Ghosh said her organisation has done a lot combining field experience, scientific research and innovative thinking to solve the most challenging crop protection problems domestically and around the world. From small rice mill with traditional rice production machine to state-of-the-art rice production machines and modern rice reprocessing system, she reiterated that her organisation is determined to transform rice production to reduce importation.

    According to her, the organisation’s innovative portfolio of products helps produce cleaner fields, healthier crops and more abundant yields. With more than 330 million acres of rice grown around the world, she said the company is dedicated to helping growers satisfy the growing demand for the world’s most essential food. While accelerating food production has brought more farmland into play, this however without a matching increase in crop yields.

    The Head Africa, United Phosphorus Limited, Mr Nishant Pahuja said his organisation is using seeds as conduit for moving new varieties, giving farmers access to more productive, yield-enhancing traits.

    Pahuja said his organisation uses rice seeds to boost nutrition, with bio-fortified varieties that elevate micro-nutrient levels.

    Typically, he observed that the severe droughts have decimated crop yields. Since climate change-induced droughts have also had a major impact on food production, Pahuja added that his company has produce drought resistant species that can survive for a long time without water. Director of International Regulatory Affairs, RiceCo, Martin Poveda said the organisation is committed to making an impact on the world shortage of food by improving the quality and quantity of rice and help make it available when and where food is needed. He said the company develops, markets, and supplies rice-specific herbicides to maximise grain production and operational efficiencies. RiceCo, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee,United States, is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Phosphorus Limited (UPL).

    UPL is a global crop protection, chemicals and seeds company, headquartered in Mumbai, India. UPL and its companies have a combined market capitalisation of approximately $2.5 billion. This provides RiceCo with a wide variety of resources to continue our goal of being the premier provider of products and services to the rice industry. So far, the Nigeria has released more than $1 billion to boost local rice production and to reduce imports of the commodity. The money, to be spent through the Presidential Rice Initiative, is to be availed to rice farmers at a single-digit interest rate of nine per cent per annum.

    Some of the money will go to building 200 artificial seed multiplication centres for production of rice seeds.

    Under the Presidential Rice Initiative, the money is meant to strengthen the capacity of banks in agricultural lending to farmers and entrepreneurs in the value chain as well as reduce rice importation.

    The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said in Abuja that large-scale rice farmers would empowered to ensure the successful implementation of the Presidential Rice Initiative. Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest rice producer, plans to raise production to 300,000 metric tonnes a year. This will reduce its imports by 15 per cent and cut costs by $342 million a year. Estimates are that the demand will be 35 million tonnes by 2050.

    Meanwhile, several ministers of agriculture from Africa will meet in Kampala early next month to discuss rice research and development, production and policy.

    The meeting, known as “the 30th Extra-Ordinary Session of the AfricaRice Council of Ministers”, will appoint a new Director General for AfricaRice Centre.

    The meeting will be held  from February 6-8 and more than 50 dignitaries are expected to attend. Of these, 25 will be ministers of Agriculture or their representatives.

    “Africa consumes a total of 11.6 million tonnes of milled rice per year, of which 3.3 million tonnes are imported. As many as 21 of the 39 rice-producing countries in Africa import between 50 and 99 per cent of their rice requirements,” states the International Rice Commission (IRC).

    In a related development, a group of Thai Investors have disclosed plans to build $4 million rice city in Calabar.

    Managing Director, Thai-African Corporation Limited, Mrs. Pantipa Dhanagon said the rice city will be completed in six months. Mrs. Pantipa Dhanagom, said the scheme will be a rice seedling center with the best rice seeds to be grown in the area.

    According to her, the project will provide a training center and a one-stop service for out-growers in Nigeria and other African countries.

  • STI Rights Issue yields 64% success rate

    The capital raising process via a Rights Issue exercise by Sovereign insurance Plc (STI) has recorded a gross proceed of N734.5 million representing a 64 per cent success rate, Chairman of the Company, Chief Ephraim Faloughi has said.

    Faloughi made this known to shareholders of the company at the 20th Annual General Meeting held over the weekend in Lagos.

    According to him, the success on the offer would reflect in the Company’s paid up capital in the financial year end 2015.

    He said that riding on the strength of your approval at the last AGM for the Company to embark on appropriate capital raising process, the Directors have moved into action and have opened and closed the issuance of shares to existing shareholders at a ratio of one for three ordinary shares already held at 50 kobo per share.

    He however said the company recorded a decrease from N929 million to N294 million in its Profit after Tax in its financial year end December 2014.

    He explained that the decrease in PAT year on year was as a result of N582.9 million prior year adjustments on claims reserve passed on its 2013 accounts.

    He said: “This adjustment reduced the value of claims charged against the profit for the year and consequently increased the Profit before Tax for 2013 from N274.8 million to N857.8 million.

    “The adjustment was however deducted from the retained earnings and did not affect Total Equity as detailed in the statement of changes of equity.

    “Gross premium for the year under review stood at N7.2 billion, a performance that represents 16 per cent over the sum of N8.6 billion recorded in the previous year.”

    Faloughi stressed that despite the result, the future of the Company is bright particularly with the implementation of a new business model and deployment of competitive strategies to control better market share and improve their profit level.

    He appealed to shareholders to be patient as the Company’s result noting claims payment as the reason for reduction in the results.

    Claims payment should be priority for investors and shareholders. It is better to keep our good name rather than not paying claims to policyholders, he said.

  • How to boost cassava yields

    How to boost cassava yields

    The Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State (FECA) and Cassava Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA ) are set to lift farmers through a formula for producing about 50 tonnes of cassava  per hectare. Experts see the intervention taking cassava from a humble root crop to a prized industrial input that will put money in the pockets of many farmers, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Many farming families depend on cassava production, but low and unstable yields are becoming increasingly common. Experts attributed this to farmers using rudimentary agricultural techniques, planting haphasardly and paying little attention to the quality of stem and the use of fertilisers. As a result, productivity has been extremely low and cannot achieve more than 10 tonnes per hectare. This worsens the farmers’ situation and keeps them in a cycle of extreme poverty.

    The situation, however, is going to change. Thanks to the grant funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA)  and years of research and development undertaken by the International Institute of  Tropical  Agriculture (IITA). As a result, more than 60 new cassava varieties that have been tested and released and are now being disseminated with successful results. Interestingly, Federal College of Agriculture (FECA), Akure, Ondo

    State, that has adopted some of the varieties for field trials and demonstration is warming to harvest 40-50 tonnes per hectare, one of the highest field production records in Africa. Already, experts say the college’s achievement is an example of how agriculture best practice can enhance current food security. Speaking with The Nation, Project Director, C:AVA 11, Prof  Kola  Adebayo, while  inspecting a demonstration farm at the college, said achieving 40 to 50 tonnes per hectare is the result of focused, relevant research and committed, energetic development . This, according to him, proves that significant yield improvements are possible for agriculture.

    With the outstanding feat  the college is going to achieve, Adebayo said farmers will be  introduced  to a new way of tripling cassava yields, and this will translate to them seeing more money enter their pockets after harvest. Addressing the International Farmers’ Field Day on Cassava Production Enterprise held at the college, Adebayo lamented that returns coming to traditional cassava farmers were not enough for them to achieve a better standard of living.

    Besides, increases in production are mainly achieved through expansion of the area cultivated, rather than through productivity gains. He said CAVA is supporting FECA to set up on-farm research trials, adding that the cassava varieties were tested along with improved production, better agronomical practices – specifically better use of fertiliser.

    He said cassava production is capable of fuelling economic growth and economic development. Prominent in its industrial applications is the use of cassava for glue, biscuits, pharmaceutical products, confectionery, noodles, magi cubes, paper-cartons, animal feed, pastries, mosquito coils, confectionaries, ethanol, textile industrial products, dry cell batteries, toothpaste, biodegradable products and, most recently, the brewery industry is using it as alternative or complementary to sorghum, maize starch and barley. This implies a huge market where farmers can earn revenue.

    The College Provost, Dr Samson Odedina, said the poor yield recorded by farmers is giving him and the management of the college concern, adding that they have found the formula to help the farmers move away from extreme poverty, having set up a demonstration farm that is capable of producing between 40 to 50 tonnes per hectare. Farmers in the south west, he said are going to be earning higher profits by planting cassava on the same field over a 12-month period provided the follow better practices which will be taught by the college.

    Most farms have been yielding about nine tonnes of cassava per hectare, according to him. He said that higher incomes would help many farmers as the college working with CAVA and IITA will offer high-yield varieties to farmers so they could increase productivity and earn higher incomes. He said the college is ready to work with farmers to identify the areas where they need the most support.

    Through short courses, he said the college trains farmers in basic agricultural techniques, such as preparing ridges, making manure and compost, planting systematically with adequate space between plants and applying fertiliser at the right time. He expressed optimistic that the project would help farmers increase their income and could serve as a model for others.  According to him,the demand for cassava is likely to increase strongly in both local and international markets, auguring a bright future for the domestic cassava industry.

    The Programme Manager, Ondo State Agricultural Development Project, Mr  Adeniyan Babasola reiterated the commitment of the state to support the college to help boost cassava cultivation, improve farmers’ productivity and ensure food security. He reiterated the state government’s commitment to achieving food security as cassava is a major staple in the diet of Nigerians. Babasola reiterated the readiness of the government to work with the college to prevent its farm land from being encroached upon by local inhabitants.

    The Project Manager, Cassava Seeds System, IITA, Dr  Richardson Okechukwu  said  the institute  has developed improved varieties and promoted best management practices, creating opportunities for farmers to improve their food security and incomes. He said cassava is a major cash crop that can help drive industrial development while delivering higher incomes to smallholder farmers but many farmers have not learnt the technique.

    He noted that the national average yield was approximately 10 metric tonnes per hectare. He said the institute and its national partners jointly developed improved cassava varieties that have significantly higher productivity in terms of fresh root yields, starch content, and improved disease resistance and environmental adaptability. With the college training, he said Nigerians would benefit from better more diverse and added value products choices on offer contributing to improvements to health and nutrition needs.

    According to him, IITA scientists, in collaboration with national partner institutes and development partners  have  defined which agronomic practices could narrow the cassava yield gap and how these can be scaled up to many farmers.

    On the technical side, Okechukwu IITA has a system of accelerated multiplication of cassava based on the use of ‘ministem’ cuttings. A ministem cutting consisted of only one or two internodes. Ten times more cuttings could be taken from a single plant, vastly increasing the potential multiplication rate.

    He said the project would boost the production of cassava with the availability of improved cassava stems, making food more secure and generating wealth. Okechukwu warned that intercropping of cassava generally affect yield, urging farmers to concentrate on mono cropping as cassava needs quality space and nutrients to increase yields

    He also explained that to make profit, a farmer needs improved seeds, appropriate agronomy information on cassava; necessary strategic information in relation to cassava growth and nutrient needs and market. The  Ghana  CAVA II Project Representative Mr Samuel Nyamekye  said the  country will replicate the experiment  demonstrated  by FECA  as  opportunities for commercial production of cassava will encourage some youth back into farming. CAVA II) Project representative from Uganda, Mr Anthony Ijala said cassava yields had more than doubled thanks to the planting of new high-yielding varieties and the adoption of more sustainable production practices.

    With the steps taken by FECA to improve yields, Ijala sees the cassava industry flourishing. Meanwhile, a two-day regional workshop to review the first phase of the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme’s (WAAPP) Diffusion of Approaches for the Control of Cassava Diseases (DALIMA) Project has opened in Kumasi.

    The project being spearheaded by the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), aims at maximising cassava production, using disease-resistant planting materials. Research indicates that the sub-region produces about 31 per cent of the world’s cassava, but this is being threatened by viral diseases including the African Cassava Mosaic Virus.

    Funded jointly by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and WAAPP, the DALIMA Project had since its inception in 2009 helped to cultivate about 40 hectares of disease-resistant cassava planting materials across the West African sub-region. Country Director of the project, Dr. Mariam Quain, and also Head of the Biotech Laboratory, CRI, said the new materials were being made available to farmers, citing Benin where farmers had already benefited.

    The workshop, which had in attendance WAAPP Coordinators drawn from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Sierra Leone, Benin, Liberia and Nigeria, and, among other things, was strategised to develop a new road map to sustain the project for the next phase. Quain indicated that the participants would discuss ways of setting up a regional mission on roots and tubers to help advance research and increasing cassava production to ensure food security.

    She stressed the need to deepen collaboration among agricultural scientists, researchers and technocrats to improve the productivity of the cassava value chain in the sub-region.

  • DMO sells N80b 2020, 2034 debts at mixed yields

    DMO sells N80b 2020, 2034 debts at mixed yields

    The Debt Management Office has sold a total of N80.20 billion ($403 million) in bonds maturing in February 2020 and August 2034 at an auction on Wednesday with mixed yields.

    Total bids stood at N153.48 billion, more than the N119.53 billion at the previous auction.

    A total of N40 billion of the February 2020 bond was sold at the auction, while additional N10.20 billion of same tenor paper was allotted on non-competitive basis.

    It said the 2020 paper fetched a yield of 15.38 per cent, compared with 15.28 per cent at the last auction.

    The debt office sold N30 billion in the August 2034 debt at 15.19 per cent versus the 15.29 per cent the paper fetched at the last auction. The 2020 debt closed at 15.41 per cent at the secondary market on Wednesday, while the 2034 paper closed at 15.19 per cent.

    The DMO regularly issues bond instruments which creates more debts for the economy. The DMO was established on October 4, 2000 to centrally coordinate the management of Nigeria’s debt, which was hitherto being done by a myriad of establishments in an uncoordinated fashion. This diffused debt management strategy led to inefficiencies.

    It was expected that the coming of DMO would lead to good debt management practices that make positive impact on economic growth and national development, particularly in reducing debt stock and cost of public debt servicing in a manner that saves resources for investment in poverty reduction programmes.

    The body is also expected to prudently raise financing to fund government deficits at affordable costs and manageable risks in the medium- and long-term; achieve positive impact on overall macroeconomic management, including monetary and fiscal policies; avoid debt crisis and achieving an orderly growth and development of the national economy.

  • Better seeds, better yields

    Better seeds, better yields

    Sustainable improvement of crop productivity is dependent on  seed varieties that have been  adapted to all types of environment. This is one area that the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) Nigeria has invested in to improve food productivity and turn around the fortunes of farmers. DANIEL ESSIET reports.  

    Earlier this year, farmers in Benue State suffered crop loss attributed to the  poor quality seeds. Some of them in Otukpo Local Government Area lamented that they did not get high yielding seeds, fertiliser and other inputs. They blamed the poor harvest of crops on the government agricultural representatives who, in their estimation, are not doing enough to distribute inputs through the right channels.

    Despite that, the state received good rainfalls, the farmers recorded poor harvest.  Some of them complained of inability to access necessary inputs for high yield production. But, the State Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Aondona HembeKule, attributed the poor harvest to lack of adequate inputs at the disposal of the commodity farmers, saying: “They (farmers) couldn’t collect their inputs this year. There was a communication gap between the commodity farmers association and AFAN. We are doing everything to bridge the perceived gap so that it doesn’t happen again.”

    Of the many factors that keep small-scale farmers poor, quality of seed may be the least understood. A lot of local farmers have been given seeds that promise high yields but fail to produce enough. Sometimes, the results are disastrous.

    President, Federated FADAMA Community Association, Lagos State, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan has experienced it.

    He said there was a time he was using local seeds.  Yields were very low. When new varieties came in, he took advantage of it.

    To him, the huge adoption by small farmers in Lagos has resulted in very high yields.  In terms of productivity, he said improved seeds can make a world of difference for small farmers. This is enough to lift farmers out of poverty.

    For instance, some farmers get one to three tonnes but with improved varieties they get five to six tonnes per hectare. For him, local seeds are major barriers to agricultural growth. This is because of low yield.

    While he owes his present success to improved seeds, the challenge, however, is that improved seeds are not enough to supply the millions of farmers who need them.

    Presently, there is lack of trust in local seed markets even for large commercial farmers, some of whom have invested heavily to plant hundreds of acres with high yield hybrids that simply didn’t germinate.

    In an  interview with The Nation, the Farm Manager and Agric Technical Advisor, Kaboji Farms Limited, Niger State, Mr  Kobus De Jager  said  the  market lacked  good hybrid seeds  which  is  key to profitable commercial farming.

    For watchers, poor seeds make it impossible for farmers to adopt the modern agricultural techniques that lifted millions of farmers out of poverty.

    But  an  initiative hopes to change all that by enhancing farmers’ access to improved seeds.

    With West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP-Nigeria)’ support, poor farmers will be able to purchase high quality seed of local food crops

    The programme’s   support for the nation’s fledgling private seed sector is part of its comprehensive approach to catalyzing change. This includes supporting the national agricultural research institutions, to develop improved varieties with higher yields to   reach farmers. The step offers hope for small farms by helping ensure that new seed varieties with higher yields make it through the supply chain from breeders to farmers.

    Speaking  in  a forum  in Abuja, the National  Coordinator, West  Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme,(WAAPP),Professor Damian Chikwendu  said breeders, industry, farmers and others are  involved in the supply chain, it  is the first viable system for getting a top-down view of where choke points stifle seed access.

    With support from WAAPP, Nigeria is strengthening its seed systems as well as its research and technology transfer systems to make farming more resilient.

    With the help of the West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), some   farmers have been able to revitalize their productivity through the planting of higher yielding varieties.

    WAAPP sponsors  research organisations to run experiments to develop higher yielding varieties.  Farmers also benefit from training, study tours, knowledge exchanges between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) stakeholders, and equipment prototypes during exchange visits, all of which help strengthen their technical capacities.

    Chinkwendu  said   getting improved seeds to small farmers is critical to raising agricultural productivity and reducing poverty.

    He   added that the main challenges facing the seed sector is equitable access to good quality seed due to poor infrastructure, poor market infrastructure and systems and a variety of logistical challenges.

    To ensure farmers have access to improved and adaptable seed varieties, he  said the  programme  was sponsoring  the implementation of  an effective breeding and seed systems approach across the country. He said the programme is promoting partnership to provide information and assist those who want to enter the seed trade sector.

    With food demand increasing, reflecting a growing population and  increased consumption, Chikwendu noted  that   a  higher yields will be needed to meet this demand.

    In a meeting with some Chief Executives of some Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs),Chikwendu said partnership with the ADPs would continue as long as WAAPP remained and expressed confidence that at the end of the programme, its impact would be felt by Nigerians.

    Meanwhile, WAAPP-Nigeria has distributed over 125 bags of rice, sorghum and maize hybrid improved seeds to over 200 farmers in Gombe State for this year’s farming season.

    Speaking during the distribution at Baure village in Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area, the Provost, Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin Kowa, Professor Fatima Sawa, said the seeds were freely given to the farmers.

    “The seeds are improved, graded specifically for the Northeast ecological zone and from the reports we got from the farmers, the seeds are high-yielding and of better quality than the types our farmers were using before,” she said.

    Sawa called on the farmers to use the seeds judiciously. “They should use them by way of planting them and observe all the agronomic practices in order to drive the maximum benefit from the seeds.”She said the college has signed an agreement with a pesticide company to supply the chemical directly to the college, which would  sell the chemical to farmers at a subsidised rate.She said doing so will solve the problem of adulterated chemicals and eliminate middle men who might increase the price.

    So far, WAAPP-Nigeria has  signed partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)  with   States Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs).  The WAAPP-sponsored initiatives include Community-based Agricultural Seed Multiplication.  The community-based seed multiplication initiation is aimed at contributing toward seed sufficiency among rural farmers in the country.

    To this end, WAAPP-Nigeria has already invested in the production and supply of foundation seeds for cassava, maize, rice, sorghum, and yam to ADPs in  states.  WAAPP’s commitment involves covering the cost of the agricultural seeds, the farm inputs, farmer training, technical assistance, and a mandatory inspection regime by the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), as part of the processes for the production of Certified Seeds which will be available for farmers’ during  the  farming season.  The state ADPs are technical partners in the community-based seed multiplication initiative.

    The  Programme Manager, Agriculture Development Programme, Abia State, Mr Eyinnaya Elekwachi, said the local farmers are  benefitting  from  improved seeds   given  by WAAPP, adding  that they  enhance  their productivity and make farming a better business in the state.

    Speaking  with The Nation, the WAAPP Desk Officer , Abia State  ADP, Mrs Nnenna  Uche said  farmers  in the  17  local government  areas  of the state have  benefitted  from high yielding  seeds.

    These include   certified rice,  maize, yam and cassava seeds to enable farmers increase their productivity. The seeds, he said  were  made  available  to   farmers through  innovation platforms.

    The  seeds   were freely given to the farmers and they are of better quality than the local types they  were using before.

    According  to  the  Chairman, Cassava Value Chain Innovation Platform, Abia State, Kalu Iche Kalu, several   new cassava varieties have come from collaborative breeding efforts supported by WAAPP and   improved varieties resulting from such works have doubled average crop yields.

    Kalu said the impact is great, yielding enormous returns for agro businesses.

    Consequently, he said, cassava is one of the most dynamic sub sectors in the  state, helping to drive industrial development while delivering higher incomes to investors. Under the WAAPP Nigeria Programme,  the mandate, he said, is root and tuber, specifically yam and cassava. The platforms are in nine states and have given small holder farmers support on farm inputs such as fertiliser and the top five cassava varieties, including the pro-vitamin A  umu-cass 36,37 and 38.

    Under the WAAPP assisted project,  he said the  target in the first phase is to reach out to 300,000 farmers, and  they have reached  167,000.  “This year we are providing seven processing centres across seven states  of which two are almost completed.  Our target is to complete these processing centres before the end of May next year.

    To experts, the   seed industry is growing in many ways. But the level of investment in research and development, rate of annual yield gains and overall crop and seed values should be at equal   levels. All these, they believe, will help to maintain growth while sustaining the environment, creating excitement, competition, investment and change in the seed industry.