The technical committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme has disclosed that it was collaborating with the University of Agriculture, Umudike and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to produce seed yams for export. The Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Simon Irtwang said on Saturday in Lagos that farmers would be provided with the yam seeds to plant for export. “One of the challenges with the flag-off of yams exported in June 2017 was that the yams were exposed to the sun before being selected for export. Once yams are exposed in the sun for long, the process of decaying sets…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) has appealed to Federal Government to support the institute to revive its vandalised liquid nitrogen plant for the storage of animal semen. The Director of the Institute, Prof. Clarence Lakpini made the call in Shika, Zaria when the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh visited there on Saturday. The director said that the institute had resorted to using chilled semen for artificial insemination since the plant was vandalised in the 1980s, Lakpini noted that effective artificial insemination would help to increase the production of animals to meet the increasing demand of…
Oyo State Butchers Association will partner with Oyo state government on the feasibility of the proposed centralised abattoir in Akinyele Local Government Area of the state. Briefing newsmen in Lagos on Friday, the butchers said after they toured facility of the Lagos State Centralised Abattoir situated in Oko-Oba that would collaborate to ensure that Oyo state floated the same facility. Led by the Special Adviser to Gov. Abiola Ajimobi on Community Relations, Alhaji Abidemi Siyanbade, the Oyo Butchers were in Lagos to understudy the operations of the centralised abattoir in Lagos. H e told newsmen that the visit, made at…
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has disclosed that the Federal government plans to establish extension offices in each of the 774 local government areas of the country as part of renewed effort to boost food production. He stated during an inspection tour of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) and the National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaisons Services (NAERLS) at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on Friday. Ogbeh who will also visit the National Animal Production and Research Institute (NAPRI) as well as Division of Agricultural Colleges (DAC) said that establishing the extension offices in each…
The coordinator of the Agripreneur Youth Empowerment Programme (IYA) of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture’s (IITA), Miss Evelyn Ohanwusi has said that the programme has been successful. Speaking to newsmen in Ibadan on Friday, she said that IYA was established in Nigeria in 2012 to strengthen youth participation in agricultural transformation through agri-business establishment and growth and had made substantial progress in empowering African youths for self-employment through agribusiness. “The IYA seeks not only to empower African youths to become employers in the Agribusiness sub-sector but also to assist them to grow their businesses,” she said. Ohanwusi said that…
The Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) of the International Food for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has inaugurated a seed laboratory in Ebonyi to provide improved seeds for farmers. The State Coordinator, Mr Sunday Ituma disclosed on Friday in Abakaliki while addressing the beneficiaries of the programme’s mechanised equipment supply scheme that the inauguration would solve the state’s seed needs. According to him, the project would provide certified seeds to farmers as well as stimulate efforts to boost agricultural production. “The equipment to test the seeds has been sent to us by our headquarters and the commissioner for agriculture is expected to…
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh has called on Nigerian scientists to advise the Federal Government on the acceptability or otherwise of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Ogbeh who made the call when he paid a working visit to the Agricultural and Veterinary Complex of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on Saturday said that opinion from indigenous scientists on the matter would help in forming government’s decisions on the acceptability or otherwise of the organisms. “Genetic modification has been greeted with scepticism in Europe. It has been seen with suspicion in Africa. Within the reality of science and…
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has asserted that Agriculture must lead in Africa’s acceleration of industrialization in order to create jobs, reduce poverty and promote inclusive economic growth. Stating the Bank’s position at the launch of the 2018 African Economic Outlook in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Wednesday, stressed that the infrastructure projects were among the most profitable investments any society could make as they sustain countries’ economic growth. “This significantly contribute to, propel and sustain a country’s economic growth. Infrastructure, when well managed, provides the financial resources to do everything else,” he said. Noting that economic diversification…
In order to boost agricultural activities as well as educate farmers on best agricultural practices, the Federal government has distributed 370 motorcycles to support extension services across the country. The distribution was done in Zaria on Friday by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh. The Minister said that the Federal Government would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS) to train more extension agents in the country. Decrying the collapse of extension services following the termination of the World Bank sponsored Agriculture Development Programme (ADP), Ogbeh also noted…
The Vice Chairman of the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative (PCNI), Alhaji Tijjani Tumsah has said that the committee would focus on improving agricultural activities in the region to make it Nigeria’s food basket. Briefing Journalists on the activities of the committee in 2017 as well as the plans for 2018 in Abuja on Friday, he stressed that it had the mandate to coordinate interventions in the Northeast. “Our mandate was to coordinate all interventions going on in the North East and as it moves to the recovery phase, plans are already underway to improve agriculture production. In 2018,…