Osun identifies 60m active cocoa trees - Aregbesola

NaijaAgroNet:

The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has disclosed that the state has identified 60 million active cocoa trees, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He made disclosure at a meeting with Cocoa Produce Merchants in the state at the Government House Banquet Hall in Osogbo at the weekend, assuring that his administration endeavour  to make the state great again, hence the recent investment and research into Cocoa production among other areas of agriculture.

For the state to start on reproducing 'Cocoa Omoluabi', Aregbesola said, the state has enumerated and identified 60m active cocoa trees in the state, there will be a new cash inflow making the economy of the state prosperous.

Osun in furtherance to boost agriculture signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to develop agriculture and massive food production as alternative to reliance on oil sector.

The agreement according to Aregbesola involved releasing of 204.39 hectares of land in Ago Owu Farm Settlement to IITA for the purposes of conducting research and setting up demonstration farms for best farming practices.

IITA, he pointed out, will also carry out cassava, plantain and other crops multiplication including Cocoa as well as train the youths in the state in modern, commercial and profitable farming.

Aregbesola emphasised that the state in her bid to increase Internally Generated Revenue in Osun, will establish commodity board to directly supervised by the office of the governor to ensure that Osun ranks among the best cocoa producers in Nigeria within the next two years.

Earlier, Chairman of All Farmers Association of Osun, Chief Raheem Adeniji said that the association is ready to partner and cooperate with government in her bid to revamp the cocoa farming in the state.

He lamented poor economic state of the country attributing it to neglect of cocoa which was the backbone of the economy in the 60s, identifying the cancellation of Cocoa and marketing Board by the then military government as a setback for the industry in Nigeria.

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Prof. Femi Osofisan wins Thalia prize 2016

ITRealms:

Professor BabaFemi Adeyemi Osofisan has been named winner of the coveted Thalia Prize 2016 by the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC), a UNESCO's statute B partner in theatre criticism, reports ITRealms.

He is the first African and indeed first black man to ever win this highly contested and prestigious award and is married to Professor Mrs Nike Osofisan former president of the Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria.

Also known as Femi Osofisan or F.O., he was born on June 1946 at Erunwon, Ogun State,  is a Nigerian writer noted for his critique of societal problems and his use of African traditional performances and surrealism in some of his novels. A frequent theme that his novels explore is the conflict between good and evil. He is in fact a didactic writer whose works seek to correct his decadent society.

Osofisan has three prose works Ma'ami, Abigail and Cordelia, first produced in newspaper columns, in The Daily Times and then The Guardian (Nigeria).

Several of Osofisan's plays are adaptations of works by other writers: Women of Owu from Euripides' The Trojan Women; Who's Afraid of Solarin? from Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector; No More the Wasted Breed from Wole Soyinka's The Strong Breed; Another Raft from J. P. Clark's The Raft; Tegonni: An African Antigone from Sophocles′ Antigone, and others.

Osofisan in his works also emphasizes gender: his representation of women as objects, objects of social division, due to shifting customs and long-lived traditions, and also as instruments for sexual exploitation; and his portrayal of women as subjects, individuals capable of cognition, endowed with consciousness and will, capable of making decisions and effecting actions.

We are proud to announce that the 2016 Thalia Prize of the International Association of Theatre Critics will be awarded to Femi Osofisan of Nigeria, a playwright, director, actor, critic, poet, novelist, editor and newspaper columnist. The Thalia Prize is meant to highlight the work of those who have helped critics around the globe to understand new ways of seeing and appreciating the performing arts worldwide. The 2016 Thalia Prize will be presented to the awardee during the IATC Congress in Belgrade.

The IATC has been around for a long time: this year it is celebrating 60 years. But the Thalia Prize is young – only ten years old. Since the prize was created, its laureates have been Eric Bentley (2006), Jean-Pierre Sarrazac (2008), Richard Schechner (2010), Kapila Vatsyayan (2012) and Eugenio Barba (2014).

ABU Zaria develops mini refinery

NaijaAgroNet:

The Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, has disclosed that the institutions Chemical department has developed a mini refinery, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the wake of the 38^th convocation ceremony of ABU slated for Friday, 29 and Saturday 30, Prof. Garba said the prototype refinery was built to function at 'one barrel per day production capacity' as a model which can be developed to function in higher capacity.

"Our chemical department has established a mini refinery that can produce relatively small quantity of petroleum products, and that process has gone far. Related to that, there is a sponsored research by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to develop some kinds of material called Zeolite. It is a mineral component that is Aused in refining crude oil to create Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Diesel, Kerosene and other petroleum products. It will interest you to know that Nigeria imports that material with a lot of billions of dollars for our refineries that are even working in half capacity.

"We are challenged with that project, and so far, the university has succeeded in developing a locally- produced zeolite from locally- sourced choline material. This has received, already, a parted certificate from the Federal Government and the PTDF has the property right and the project is going into the next development of testing again to meet international standard."

Also, Prof. Garba revealed that the Mechanical and Engineering Department has produced a prototype car which has even won an award in South Africa and Netherlands.

The business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, he said, would deliver the 38th convocation lecture on Friday at the Samaru main campus of the institution, while the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, will be the chairman of the occasion.

An estimated 13,149 students, he said, would participate in the convocation while 4,598 postgraduate students will get higher degrees. 

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
 

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Bird flu virus rises in Plateau State

NaijaAgroNet:

The Avian Influenza (bird flu virus) has risen in Plateau State, spreading from the hitherto nine infected farms to 17, whereas estimated 58,000 birds have been depopulated, according to government sources, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The depopulation, ChannelTv News monitored by NaijaAgroNet reports, was carried out by the Avian Influenza Control Unit Department of the Ministry of Agriculture in the state.

Updating newsmen on the influenza, Tuesday, the Desk Officer of the project unit, Ayuba Haruna, said that four local government areas comprising Jos East, Jos North, Jos South and Bassa, all in the northern zone of the state, were affected in latest attack of the bird flu virus.

The monitoring teams, Haruna said, were still on the field in search of affected farms for depopulation of birds as well as fumigation of the premises in efforts to reduce the spread.

It was also gathered that on January 20, the Director of Veterinary Services, Plateau State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Doris Bitrus, confirmed the resurgence of avian influenza.
The affected firms, Dr. Bitrus said, had been depopulated and decontaminated to forestall the spread of the disease to other farms in the state.

The fresh cases of the disease were first reported to the Ministry on January 8, 2016, which prompted the Ministry to embark on inspection of the affected farms, as well as sensitisation of poultry farmers on steps to take on noticing symptoms of the disease.

Isaac Oyimah with additional report from Channels Tv/GEE

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War against hunger: Africa inaugurates Centre for Agric Innovation

NaijaAgroNet:

Hunger and poverty may soon be a thing of history in Africa, courtesy the Green Innovation Center, which was inaugurated at AfricaRice in Benin early this month; NaijaAgroNet reports.

The centre aims to boost agricultural productivity, increase the incomes of smallholder farmers and create job opportunities, particularly for youth and women in African countries namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia and Zambia.

The Green Innovation Center is supported by the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in partnership with other institutions such as Benin Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, and AfricaRice.

BMZ has given 2.7 million euros (almost US$3 million) to AfricaRice to implement the centre’s activities in 2016 and 2017, according to Bernard Marc Winfried, a knowledge management specialist at AfricaRice.

He also said that in Benin the initiative would facilitate the exchange of knowledge and interaction between researchers and development experts in 17 communities, stressing that the centre will strengthen the agricultural innovation system by promoting partnerships and developing an operational framework for innovation.

Minister for BMZ Gerd Müller, said during the inauguration that agriculture does not only need water and fertiliser but also needs knowledge and innovation. 

Banji Boye/ED ops

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