Good agricultural practices according to FAO

NaijaAgroNet:

The importance of good agricultural practices has been stressed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO, through its Deputy Director-General, Maria Helena Semedo, at a United Nations General Assembly side event on Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), Semedo said that good health, good productivity and good economies depend on safe and nutritious food, which underscored the importance of work done at field level to bring AMR under control.

"Progress in the fight against AMR depends on good agricultural practices. We need to promote sustainable agriculture and food systems," she said.

In addition, she said, "The use of antimicrobials in agriculture is not a substitute for insufficient hygiene and bad management practices."

She also said that "we need improved mechanisms for the quality assurance of pharmaceuticals because counterfeit, substandard medicines contribute to resistance. Although Codex Alimentarius develops impressive global surveillance guidance and codes of practice, there remains a staggering lack of capacity for adequate surveillance of AMR at national levels."

Semedo, therefore, urged the international community to act now to invest in the future “we want to build together.”

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Good rains bring hope to war-torn Syrians

NaijaAgroNet:

The rain falls in the country of Syria offer some hope to the war-torn region says two United Nations agencies, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) gave this hope while assessing the situation in the country on the latest Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) made available to NaijaAgroNet

According to the Acting FAO Representative in Syria, Adam Yao, and WFP Representative and Country Director in Syria, Jakob Kern, good rains have brought some hope for the war-torn country with better rainfall within the Euphrates River watershed which meant greater water flows and higher water levels in many of the country's reservoirs.

Wheat and barley production slightly improved in 2017 compared to last year due to the better rainfall and improved access to agricultural land in some areas. Main constraints continue to be the high cost or unavailability of inputs, such as seeds and fertilizer, and the destruction of infrastructure for irrigation and storage.

Pasture conditions have improved because of the better rainfall, which will partially ease pressure from high fodder prices. Herd sizes have stabilized albeit at a very low level. The main constraints continue to be high fodder prices, insufficient coverage of veterinary services and insecurity that limits access to grazing areas in some parts of the country.

Gradual improvements in security and the opening of some key supply routes have allowed trade to slowly recover and urban markets to function in several parts of the country. In parts of eastern Aleppo where the entire infrastructure and markets have been heavily destroyed, recovery has started at a very slow pace. Across the country, food prices continue to be close to the record high, with the exception of the governorates of Deir-ez-Zor, Al-Hasakeh and Rural Damascus.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE 

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Execlusive: Experts canvass support for bio-safety law in Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet

Environmentalists in Nigeria are drumming support for the recently proclaimed Biosafety Act and forecasting good tidings for the nation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as NaijaAgroNet reports President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on April 20, 2015 signed the Biosafety Act into law.

Some of the biosafety experts who commented on this development including Director of Research (Biotechnology) at Sheda Science & Technology Complex, Abuja, Dr. Abolade Samuel Afolabi and research fellow at Biotechnology Advanced Laboratory, Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Dr. Andrew Chibuzor Iloh.

They said the Act sponsored by the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) is a welcomed development and strive for domestication of modern biotechnology as obtained in advanced countries, a technology with capacity to boost agricultural production and economic development.

For Dr. Afolabi, the biosafety technology is already available and could translate to jobs, opportunity for the youth and wealth creation.

The National Advanced Biotechnology Laboratories, he said, could now go on full fledge research in plant, animal and human biotechnology thus building formidable home grown capacity.

“The possibility is limitless ... a win–win situation. Now let’s ‘hit the bench’ and become productive at the molecular level,” he said, stressing that Nigeria has arrived and has finally joined the enlightened group of nations with the signing of the Act.

And for Dr. Andrew Chibuzor Iloh, there is no doubt that the signing of the biosafety bill into an Act in Nigeria would bring about growth economically, socially as well as capacity building in the field of agricultural biotechnology.

“It’s important to say that it opens up the seed business in Nigeria were seed companies can comfortably strive while providing farmers with quality seeds,” Dr. Iloh said.

In terms of capacity building, Dr. Iloh pointd out that the Act opens up avenues for quality in house research for development and Nigeria would be able to train more scientists in the field. “The economic earnings will diversify at least by bringing some form of succor to the dwindling oil market,” he noted.

Remmy Nweke
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology.