Agriculture
FG Distributes Rice Production Inputs, Starter Packs To Farmers
The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), has distributed rice production inputs to farmers in the South-West zone of the country.
The event, which took place at Moor Plantation, Ibadan, had farmers’ representatives from Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Lagos States.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, who was represented at the event by Alhaji Bashir Usman, Deputy Director and National Coordinator for Rice Value Chain, presented the items to the farmers.
According to him, the Federal Government, through the ministry, has introduced an array of agricultural programmes and projects to ensure food security and long term economic growth of the nation.
“The Nigerian agricultural sector has been focusing on the conventional paradigm of harnessing resources over the years to sustain food security.
“Presently, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is committed to making the sector a pivot for economic stabilisation in diversifying, generating employment and creating wealth in the country.
“One of the ways in which the ministry is working to achieve its objectives is through the promotion of various value chains,’’ he said.
According to reports, the ministry also organised a two-day training for rice farmers across South-West states on ‘Good Agricultural Practices and Safe/Effective Use of Agrochemicals to increase Rice Production.’
The Minister said the best agricultural practices were voluntary guidelines for farmers to reduce risk of microbial contamination related to food-borne illness on their farms.
Abubakar said the voluntary guidelines are expected to be observed at each stage of agriculture, such as in soil preparation, sowing and manure application, harvesting and processing.
The Minister noted that plants could only yield well and resist pests and disease if they were grown under the most suitable conditions.
“It, therefore, becomes necessary to sensitise farmers and other stakeholders along the rice value chain through this workshop to spread the basic concept of agricultural best practices in rice production.
“To also sensitise them on effective/safe use of agrochemicals to increase rice production,’’ he said.
In her address, the Oyo State Coordinator, FMARD, Dr Kakulu Omonele, enjoined the participants to make the most of the training and step it down to others in their various associations.
The Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) has said the current maize production in the country stands at 15 million metric tons (MT) while Nigeria needs 20 million (MT), leaving gap of 5 million.0The Principal Investigator, Tela Maize, Prof. Rabi’u Adamu, made the assertion on Tuesday when demonstrating samples of Maize Seeds at a farm in Karaye Local Government Area of Kano State.
While speaking during the demonstration of the New Varieties of the seeds tagged “Seeing is believing farming field day”, Prof. Adamu said Nigeria needs additional 5 million metric tons, MT, to bridge the gap in maize production demand in the country.
He said the current maize production stands at 15 million metric tons while Nigeria needs 20 million MT, leaving gap of 5 million.
The shortage in the maize production demand was a result of invasion of pests, especially Fall Army Worm that destroyed the crops.
According to him, “That is why the IAR developed the improved maize varieties that are resistant to the Fall Army Worm in order to boost the production to meet the demand.
“This variety would help farmers double their yields as they are resistant to Fall Army Worm. They are also hybrid making the crop grow in not more than three months.
“It will make Nigeria bridge the deficit of 5 million metric tons maize production demand in Nigeria”.
Speaking on the occasion, the Executive Director, Institute of Agriculture Research, Prof. Ado Adamu Yusuf, decried the attitude of farmers who had failed to embrace the use of improved varieties.
Prof. Yusuf said improved variety will cut cost of production, improve high yield, be resistant to fall army and be drought tolerant at the long run increasing food production and food sufficiency.
The institute has a mandate for genetic improvement of several crops, especially those crops that matter most to Nigerians and their economy.
It will be recalled that the hybrid varieties were demonstrated on a half-acre farm belonging to one farmer Nasiru Adamu.
However, speaking to journalists, Adamu said he had lost huge amount of money to the invasion of the Fall Army Worm for about five years.
He added that since the introduction of the varieties, which were tried on his farm, he had witnessed rapid growth and higher yields.
He said the maize varieties that were demonstrated on his farm were planted on September 1st, adding that the farm is now set for harvest in the next three weeks.
At the end of the event, the farmers voted for variety A, which got 59 votes ahead of varieties B, C, and D.
An International Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) consultant, Ambassador Larry Goodwill Ajiola, has applauded the decision of the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to revive the Songhai Farm and the entire Agriculture sector.
Amb. Ajiola who is also the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rumoumasi Metrixx Co-operative and Credit Society Limited, Port Harcourt, told The Tide in a chat that “this is one of the best decisions the Government of Rivers State has taken in the best interest of the people of the State”.
The CEO said the farm will offer Jobs in diverse areas of specialisations as thousand of Rivers people will be engaged.
“The farm is a great asset of Rivers State under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Programme of the United Nations for 2030.
“It will bring and supply food to Rivers State and its environs at full capacity production, in addition to full export of its remaining produce”, he said.
The Co-operative guru noted an investment in the agriculture sector will not only provide value food chain, but would also boost the economic status of the state in terms of diversification from oil and gas.
It would be recalled that Governor Fubara in October said his administration was set to revolutionise agriculture in the state, using the Songhai Farms in Bunu Community, Tai Local Government Area, as a launch pad.
Fubara revealed this during an inspection visit to the Songhai Farm, where he was conducted round some sections of the facility by the Manager, Dr Sammy Jaja.
The visit, Fubara explained, was sequel to the decisions at the National Economic Council meeting where the need for diversification of the economy dominated discussions in order to cushion the current economic hardship experienced by the citizenry.
The Governor further said revamping the Songhai Farms will serve the purpose of diversifying the economy of the State, get the people engaged meaningfully, and increase the food sufficiency in the state.
By: Lilian Peters
The Genetically Modified (GM) Potato Project ongoing in Nigeria has concluded its first-year multi-locational confined trial in three locations, with the Biotech potatoes showing a significant yield advantage over conventional varieties planted in the country.
Preliminary results from the three locations, namely Kuru and Bokkos in Plateau State, and Kusuku in Taraba State, show that the biotech potatoes had a uniform yield advantage of over 300 per cent when compared to the best-performing variety in the country when no fungicide was applied.
The trials are under the Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership (GBPP), a five-year project coordinated by Michigan State University that focuses on the commercialisation of late-blight disease-resistant potatoes in farmer-preferred varieties in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the International Centre for Potatoes are other strategic partners in the project, which is implemented in Nigeria by the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike.
The GBPP Principal Investigator, Dr Charles Amadi, said he was excited by the promising results, which showed clearly that biotech potatoes can contribute significantly to the mitigation of devastation caused by recurrent outbreaks of late blight in the potato-growing areas of Nigeria.
He added that this will help increase yields and secure farmers’ investments and the livelihoods of stakeholders in the potato value chain.
Some of the farmers who participated in the trials were full of praises for the modified variety, saying it outperformed their conventional varieties and calling on the federal government of Nigeria to expedite action on the commercialisation of the biotech potato to ensure farmers have unhindered access to its tuber seedlings.
The Chairlady of Kusuku Potatoes Farmers Association, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, Mrs Rosemary Samson, said she and her fellow farmers have been planting potatoes for years but have never witnessed such high-yielding and very productive varieties as the biotech potatoes.
“For the past years, we have been farming potatoes on this land. I have farmed potatoes for more than 20 years.
“The problem on the land is poor yield, insect destruction, and the rustiness of the potatoes. This variety is completely different from our experience. This one yields very good, and rustiness is not like in the past”, she stated.
Another farmer, Genesis Johnson, the Chairman of Potato Farmers from Gembu, said he came to witness the harvest of the Irish potato, which is resistant to pests and disease, and he was very impressed with what he saw.
“In previous years, we have been planting Irish potatoes, but we have not witnessed a potato that is resistant to pests and disease.
“We spend so much on chemical spray to reduce diseases and insect attacks, yet what we get at the end of the day is not proportional to the investment.
“With this biotech potato, we are encouraged that hope for a bumper harvest is possible and also, with little investment, our efforts will yield good results. We are appealing to the federal government to avail us of this variety of Irish potato; it will give us more income and more food on our table.