Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger state on Tuesday said that the state government had procured 130 tractors and accessories worth N2.2 billion, to boost agricultural mechanisation ahead of the 2018 farming season. Inaugurating the 2018 farming season, fertiliser sales and distribution of tractors in Minna, he said that the measure to procure tractors would ensure food security in the state and the nation at large. “The state government in its deliberate efforts toward boosting agricultural mechanisation activities has procured 130 tractors valued at N2.2 billion,” Bello said adding that the equipment would be distributed to genuine farmers at 25 percent…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), says it will provide technical assistance to nine African cities in order to prevent climate change catastrophe. The Executive Director of C40, Mr Mark Watts disclosed in Lagos on Tuesday during the unveiling of the “C40 Climate Action Planning Africa Programme” that the nine African cities include Lagos, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg and Tshwane. Watts said that the unveiling signified the official start of the C40’s Climate Action Planning (CAP) technical assistance programme in the African region. He said that the CAP technical…
As the virus spreads in Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization is preparing to immunize people as soon as this week. By Kerry Grens The World Health Organization, the government of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Merck have agreed to use Merck’s unapproved Ebola vaccine as an outbreak of the virus expands in DRC. “The cold chain is on standby, the stockpile is on standby, the teams have been put on standby including up to 40 people that conducted the initial ring vaccination trial in Guinea,” Peter Salama, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) deputy director-general of emergency preparedness…
Yogurt might help lessen chronic inflammation linked to bowel disease, arthritis and asthma. According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, inflammation is the body’s first line of defense against illness and injury. However, it could also wreak biological havoc on organs and systems and is associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases. The new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that yogurt can reduce inflammation by improving the integrity of the intestinal lining, thus preventing endotoxins, the pro-inflammatory molecules produced by gut microbes, from crossing into the blood stream.…
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) plans to hold a training on innovative technologies for weed management in cassava in July. The training program is part of efforts to share to a wider audience proven research findings generated from the IITA- Cassava Weed Management Project that have helped farmers to record 20 -32 tons per hectare of cassava. Titled, “Novel techniques for Weed Management in Cassava Farming Systems,” the training, which will take place on 2-3 July in IITA Ibadan, Nigeria seeks to enhance participants skills in weed management in cassava farming systems. Specific objectives of the course are…
President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s agricultural revolution is real and on course as Federal Government’s economic diversification and inclusive growth programmes are yielding positive results, particularly in key food-producing states. He stated this in Auyo, Jigawa State, at an event to mark the commencement of the rehabilitation and expansion of the 6,000-hectare Hadejia Valley irrigation project, on Monday. Buhari assured Nigerians that his administration would sustain the positive momentum in the sector by implementing the right policies and providing the needed financial resources for people-oriented projects. He is in Jigawa for a two-day working visit and expressed delight that the…
By Omri Ben-Shahar Consumers are deeply suspicious of GMO foods–products made from genetically modified agricultural crops. They are told that growing such crops may have adverse health effects. They are warned that the transfer of genes across species amounts to an “unnatural” global experiment in human beings. They are led to believe that GMO cultivation techniques have disastrous environmental effects, due to heavy use of pesticides and insecticides. And they worry about crop biodiversity and about the unintended effects on other species that live in GMO fields. I used to worry about these things too. I was concerned about the environmental impact and the integrity of…
By Stuart Smyth 1994 is generally regarded as the first year of genetically modified crop production, the first being the GM Flavr Savr tomato in the US. The crops that will be planted in 2018 represent the 25th year of GM crop production. While many eNGOs of social media ‘celebrity’ rant, rave and troll that GM crops are the cause of every leading social, medical and environmental misfortune in existence, this could not be further from the truth. While GM crops celebrate their 25th production anniversary, these technologies have been researched for a decade longer. During this time, they have been proven safe countless…
By Ludger Wess What is nature? What is natural? Philosophers have been arguing about this since antiquity. Supporters of organic farming seem to know the difference. For them, the use of “chemistry” and “genes” is unnatural. But neither nature nor organic farmers adhere to this definition, making it difficult to use the concept of “natural” when deciding which techniques should be allowed. Organic farming, as most people believe, relies only on methods that are “natural”. Everything that does not occur in nature — mineral fertilizers, genetic engineering and chemically-synthesized plant protection products such as glyphosate or neonicotinoids — is prohibited. In contrast, those things…
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the George W. Bush Institute and the UNAIDS have announced renewed partnership to End AIDS and Cervical Cancer among HIV-positive women in Africa. They said the renewed partnership would accelerate lifesaving efforts to help end AIDS and cervical cancer in Africa’s eight sub-Saharan African countries to commemorate Mother’s Day. The partnership would ensure efforts were more effective and at a lower cost by refocusing on reaching HIV-positive women in eight target countries, including Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. According to UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS…