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Showing posts with label Pests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pests. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Africa needs GMO tools to overcome weeds, pests, drought



Genetic Literacy Project, a Science trumps ideology group, has said that what Africa needs are genetically modified organism (GMO) tools to overcome weeds, pests and drought, NaijaAgroNet reports.

“One major problem is that we don’t benefit from the latest technologies. From Africa, we look at North and South America farmers with envy, wishing we could use the same genetically modified organism (GMO) tools to overcome weeds, pests and drought they have access to.

“We don’t need handouts from wealthy countries. We just need the same opportunities to succeed. Africa’s current drought has not yet touched Ghana, but it stretches the full length of our continent. The United Nations predicts that more people in Ethiopia will need food assistance next year than in war-torn Syria”, NaijaAgroNet gathered.

The continent of Africa is suffering its worst drought in a generation. The failure of the African skies to pour nourishing rain onto the soil could cost millions of people their lives.

Drought can affect farmers anywhere. The drought in California has devastated farmers in an area world famous for its agricultural productivity. The United States, however, is a developed nation — the drought has caused hardship but nobody expects it to lead to large-scale malnutrition and starvation.

NaijaAgroNet reports that things are different in Africa, with no simple solutions to its agricultural dilemmas. Farmers  lack access to credit, land and labour. Many suffer from illiteracy, poor management skills and bad or nonexistent infrastructure. The delivery of extension services is skewed. And although agriculture is essential, it’s held in low regard.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs
 
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Thursday, September 24, 2015

FAO injects N97,117m to fight pests, diseases in Botswana

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has said it has injected P281 000 million, about N97,117 million in a bio security joint project with the Ministry of Agriculture to fight pests and diseases in Botswana.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the project which was officially launched at Ramokgwebana border post by the assistant Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, is expected to clamp down on the risks of unsafe and contaminated plants and foodstuffs from being brought into Botswana, even though the awareness campaign which is targeted at cross-border travelers is expected to educate the public on the importance of bringing into the country plants and non plants which have been inspected and pest free.

According to THEVOICEBW, an FAO representative, David Tibe, said that bio security is critical if Botswana is to maintain and upscale its food security: “Increased travel is also creating more pathways to spread diseases, pests and other hazards that are moving faster and further than ever before,” Tibe said.

Tibe added that the joint project will help the ministry of agriculture and other stakeholders to improve their capacities at all levels to provide public services to plant and animal health as well as food safety, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Sunday, October 6, 2013

CABI says 40% food lost to diseases annually, establishes plant clinics





Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

United Kindgom-based Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) has said that despite the advances made in science and technology, crop disease continues to plague farmers everywhere as 40 per cent of the food grown worldwide is lost to pests and diseases before it could be consumed. 

This postulation was made by CABI while trying to change the trend through a crop protection programme called Plantwise, maintaining, there are about 90 of these clinics in Uganda, while this year donors spent $290,000 about N46, 907,501.64 training plant doctors and expanding the system in the country.
                                                  
NaijaAgroNet learnt from CABI that it has trained nearly a thousand plant doctors in 24 countries, including one near Kampala, Uganda since 2010  and set up Plantwise clinics in 12 African countries - nine in East Africa and  three in West Africa.

One of the trained plant Doctors, according to a press statement from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Daniel Lyazi on arrival in Mukono, a village about 15 kilometers from Kampala to set up a clinic discovered that there is no remedy for the diseased plant samples that people bring to the clinic while the farmers have been using the wrong insecticide.
“I’m recommending the use of another insecticide called Fenkill, and in another planting season they should plant with onions. Onions can repel the caterpillar and so they can get income,” he said.
 
The head of a local farmers’ group, Erifazi Mayanja, said that they are really benefiting from the twice-a-month clinic, which started last year as Lyazi’s recommendations may save the next season’s crop by inter-planting onions between the rows of cabbages as an additional protection measure.

The Coordinator the Plantwise program in Uganda and Zambia, Joseph Mulema opined that plant clinics are far more effective model for getting advice to farmers than the traditional one where agricultural extension workers, in theory, visit farms. 


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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

IITA, ABUAD sign MoU to unlock potentials in Africa



International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) in order to unlock Africa's potential in agriculture, natural resources and human.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that the MoU is to serve as a linking bridge between the two institutions to boost cooperation so as to complement each other's research efforts.
Commenting on the MoU, Director General of IITA, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga expressed the institute's excitement over the MoU that IITA is confident to work with ABUAD to tackle hunger and poverty challenges on the continent.
"The MoU will help in building the critical human capital that will address the present and future challenges of not only agriculture but also development," Dr. Sanginga said, adding that agriculture is faced with several constraints like climate change, pests and diseases.
He said the objective of the MoU is a meaningful avenue to engage the youths and give them the tools to be productive.
Specifically, IITA and ABUAD will collaborate in research and development topics of mutual interest, develop joint research and development project proposals, organize joint research activities, conferences, and workshops, establish linkages between IITA and ABUAD scientists, exchange students, and share research materials and publications of common interest.
Vice-Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Sidi Osho said the MoU would also help to boost food production and security. Prof. Osho also revealed that the MoU will confer great benefits on the university in terms of international linkages, exchange programs, strengthening research and offering qualitative strategies for administrative capacity.

Yinka Awosanya/LS

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