By Abdallah el-Kurebe The National President of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Goronyo has commended Nigeria’s Council of State for approving $1 billion to boost agriculture as well as empower livestock production. In a statement issued in Sokoto on Saturday, Goronyo said that the Friday’s endorsement of the amount by the Council “is an absolute endorsement that the Federal government is doing it right in the area of agricultural development.” He further observed that upping agricultural funding from $200 million to $1 billion meant that Nigeria would be back to its glorious years of agricultural giant.…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Youth Agicultural Enterprise Training Programme (YET-P) on Saturday trained 2,500 women on farming in a bid to boost their interest in the vocation and enhance food production. The Director of YET-P, Mr Kator Hule told news men that the women were trained under the Women Entrepreneurial Training Programme (WET-P), with the exercise focusing on empowering women in Agricultural enhancement for food security in the state. He said WET-P is an initiative developed as a toolkit for remedying the fall of Nigeria’s Agriculture . With the theme, ”Engaging Women in Key Opportunities in Agriculture”, Hule explained that it sought to…
The Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) has observed that research and innovations that are being developed at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) could transform Nigeria’s agricultural narrative. The group, which is comprised of Nigeria’s private sector players in the agricultural value chain and led by its Vice president, Emmanuel Ijewere paid a visit to IITA to explore areas of possible collaboration with IITA. The team was puzzled and excited over the many innovations that have been developed by researchers in IITA ranging from improved seeds that could more than double farmers’ productivity, to technologies that control weeds and double…
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-managed Cassava Weed Management Project (IITA-CWMP) has said that it would partner with cassava growers in the country to boost productivity. The IITA Communication and Knowledge Exchange Expert, Mr Godwin Atser who disclosed this to news men in Abuja on Friday, said the institute had observed the challenges faced by the rural farmers and was determined to proffer solutions through science-oriented innovations. He added that IITA would provide innovations to educate big time cassava growers in the states on ways of tackling several challenges in growing the commodity. “We want to see increase in yield in…
Sokoto state government has said it would soon start a tractor hirinf scheme in order to boost mechanization as well as assist farmers to enhance their production capacity. Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal stated this in Kware local government when he inspected agricultural processing machines procured farmers under the state’s FADAMA III additional funding scheme. According to him, “We are starting with 30 tractors, with each of the three senatorial districts to have 10 tractors. This initiative will be implemented with the collaboration of the FADAMA III coordinating office, the state ministry of agriculture and the state investment company, which will…
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that it requires more funds to tackle the spread of armyworm in Africa. A statement issued by the organisation’s National Communication Officer, Mr David Tsokar in Abuja reported the Director-General of the organisation, Mr Jose’ Graziano da Silva as saying that the organisation had raised $13 million to fight the disease and had contributed $10 million from its budget. According to him, Africa is particularly affected and vulnerable to climate change, which is contributing to increasing outbreak of pests and diseases. ‘‘Fall Armyworm, which was first reported on the continent in 2016,…
Sokoto State Government said on Wednesday it had procured 25,000 metric tons of fertiliser for sale to irrigation farmers at subsidised rate. Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, who made the disclosure while flagging-off the sales in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of the state, said the fertiliser would be sold to farmers at N4,000 per bag. He added that the farmers would also get improved seeds and chemicals, in addition to the drilling of 1, 000 tube wells. “We have bought 500,000 bags of fertiliser at the cost of N6, 800 per 50kg bag but we have decided to sell the product…
Each year, seven in 10 deaths globally are from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mostly from tobacco and alcohol use, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. The Organisation disclosed this while launching the Independent Global High-level Commission on NCDs, adding that bold and innovative solutions were now on the table to accelerate the prevention and control of deadly NCDs. It further said that such non-communicable were heart and lung disease, cancers and diabetes, explainign that a new high-level commission was getting set to begin its work. According to the President of Uruguay and co-chair of new WHO…
A research group from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences on Saturday announced that they have developed a new type of flu vaccine using nano-technology. The leader of the research group, Cui Zongqiang said the intranasal nano-vaccine could target broad-spectrum flu viruses and induces robust immune responses. “In our study, an intranasal nano-vaccine worked well against infections of H1N1 and H9N2 virus in mice. The results suggest that the 3M2e-rHF nanoparticle is a promising, needle-free, intranasally administered, cross-protective influenza vaccine,’’ Cui said. Across China, measures have been taken to contain the winter flu outbreak. Experts said flu infections this…
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched a new and comprehensive guide on integrated pest management to tackle the Fall Armyworm on maize in Africa. While launching the guide, FAO observed that the invasive pest was affecting millions of hectares of maize across most of Africa, mainly crops in the hands of smallholder farmers. The organisation said that by early 2018, only 10 out of the 54 African states and territories – mostly in the north of the continent – had not reported infestations by the invasive pest, adding that Central and Southern Africa were particularly on high alert, as…