O’Meal progamme boosts pupils’ school enrolment in Osun

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Enrolment of pupils in the Osun State public school is said to have increased tremendously following the introduction of O’ meal programme by the Osun State Government

Enrolment of pupils in the Osun State public school is said to have increased tremendously following the introduction of O’ meal programme by the Osun State GovernmentEnrolment of pupils in the Osun State public school is said to have increased tremendously following the introduction of O’ meal programme by the Osun State Government

The Osun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. (Mrs) Temitope Ilori revealed this, while speaking at a workshop organised by the State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in partnership with Quick 

Impact Intervention Programme (QUIIP) on benefits of linkage between small holder farmers, cocoyam off takers and food vendors of O’meal programme.

Ilori commended the State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbosola for fulfilling his promises as contained in the six-point integral action plans of the administration to providing nutrient and proteineous meals for 254,000 public primary school pupils.

NaijaAgroNet discovered that aside the increase in public school enrolment the O’meal programme has improved the pupil’s healthy living in the state through over 3000 community caterers.

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pix:pupils in Osun State

Why youth shun commercial farming - CAPD

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The youths in Nigeria don’t want to take to commercial farming as some of them still see agriculture from the traditional perspective that put manual implements to use, according to the Lagos State Coordinator for Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CAPD) Mr Kehinde O. Ogunyinka.

In an exclusive interview with NaijaAgroNet, and said that the youth that don’t want to go into commercial farming can go into marketing, instead of crying day and night over unemployment.

Ogunyinka explained that the value chain of agriculture is so long from input to land preparation, production, harvest, transportation and the market, that even the old ones can still be engaged, while the cry for unemployment will be greatly reduced if not eliminated.

“As it is today agricultural production has been simplified. We have machineries to clear the forest/bush. 

There are ploughing, hallowing machines that will do the land preparation and the ridgers for ridges, planters to do the planting and combined harvesters that will do the harvesting and processing.

“So we have all these machines along the production line that will make production of any farming activity easy and remove drudgery from the farm. So the youths can be engaged, as the government under the auspices of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative has engaged 400 youths in rice production annually and they are doing well,” he said.

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Ogun engages 1,200 farmers on new Ofada rice farm

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The Ogun State Government has made provisions for direct and indirect jobs in order to engage 1,200 farmers in the newly cultivated 100 hectares Ofada rice farm at Shagbon village, Eggua in Yewa Local Government Area of the state, reports BusinessDay.

The Ogun State commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Ronke Sokefun disclosed this during an inspection tour to the farmland, and said that the project would employ 200 main farmers and at least 1000 farm assistants, while government will provide incentives such as rice seeds, fertilisers, and also buy back the produce after harvest.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from the statement of the Commissioner for Agriculture,  that  Ogun State Government will not only be provide the land for the planting of the rice, but would be responsible for provision of  viable rice seeds and other inputs needed to ensure a bumper harvest

Based on the challenge over land clearing faced by the farmers,  she said, the ministry had embarked on clearing and ploughing of the land to be used for planting late maize, short Nerica rice, and then to make way for the Ofada farmers’ rice to be planted  and improved on their production.

In his response during the visit, a representative of the farmers, Azeez Adeniji commended the gesture of state government for the farmland project and pledged the farmers’ commitment to ensure that the farmland succeeds.

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Agric: Commissioner commends Edo State Young Farmers’ Club

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The Edo State Chapter of Federation of Young Farmers Club has been commended for their innovation and breeding of young farmers who have been described as the future of the nation.

Edo State Commissioner for Agriculture and National Resources, Hon. Abdul Oroh, made this commendation, while playing host to the chairman and members of the Edo State Chapter of Federation of Young Farmers Club who paid him courtesy visit in his office in Benin City.
Oroh who described agriculture as the spring board to sustainable economic development if modern techniques and process are adopted by farmers, noted that in order to sustain the agricultural transformation agenda of Mr. President, new generation of farmers must emerge to take over from old ones.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from Oroh that the success recorded so far in the agricultural sector of the state includes quality of Crop Production, researches to forestall post harvest causes and access to market which must be developed to enable the farmers to earn more income.

He advised the young farmers to remain focused, and called the school authorities to inculcate the study of agriculture into the school curriculum right from the primary level.
The commissioner, while responding to the request made by the chairman of the club promised the resuscitation of their monthly stipend from ADP when a formal proposal to their requests is received and channelled to the appropriate quarters for consideration.

The Chairman, Edo State Chapter of Federation of Young Farmers Club, Mr. Matthew Idemudia earlier in his speech disclosed that the club which is a voluntary youth organization with focus towards mechanized agricultural development in Nigeria has demonstration farms in Aihuobabekun in Ovia-North East and Obayantor in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area where they practice arable, mixed and cash cropping.


 Idemudia while appreciating the ministry for its support for the club explained that the club was mobilising students and community youths to key into the National Agricultural Transformation and food security programme, and solicited for sponsorship of members in the forth coming international training, committee workshops, and seminars both within and outside the ministry. 
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Quarra Rice Mill targets 30,000 tonnes paddy rice

  Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Quarra Rice Mill, one of the country’s largest rice processing mills which has an annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes of paddy rice is set to add pep to the Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) to meet the rapidly growing domestic rice demand.

 NaijaAgroNet discovered that the mill which is located in Tsaragi, Kwara State is one of the country’s largest rice processing mills and is expected to process 150,000 tonnes per year by 2018.

The mill which is operated by Quarra Rice Limited would have output of parboiled rice and rice flour sold domestically to help alleviate food security and serve as substitute for expensive imports.

The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the estimated level of import of rice in Nigeria stands at 2.7 million tons of rice per annum, while Nigeria produces 2.85 tons of milled rice and 4.524 million tons of paddy rice per year.

At the commissioning of the mill, recently, the Governor of  Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed was quoted as saying that “it was alarming that Nigeria continued to spend about $2 billion annually on importation of roughly 2 million metric tons of rice, wasting scarce foreign exchange and stunting growth of local agriculture, while accelerating the growth of foreign economies.”

On his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adewunmi Adesina, who was represented by Executive Director of National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation. Ike Azogu said that 9 million metric tons of food was added to the nation’s domestic food supply in 2012/2013, which is an increase of 80 percent more than the annual target of 5 million metric tons.

“Food imports declined by N857 billion by the end of 2012; for example, the nation’s import bill for wheat, rice and sugar was down by $3 billion in 2012. Agric exports expanded by 822,000 metric tons in 2012, as the sector’s contribution to non-oil exports expanded by N759 billion,” he said.

*Additional report from Businessday

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Agric: Banks’ lending set to rise to 7% in 10 yrs

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that bank lending to agriculture sector is expected to rise to seven per cent from its present 3.5 per cent within the next decade.

                                                                                                        

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Dr Kingsley Moghalu, dropped the hint on a sideline at the end of the Euromoney Conference held in Lagos, and said that the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) initiative has boosted agricultural lending to farmers  in the country.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the agricultural sector has received tremendous attention due to the transformation agenda of President Jonathan’s administration that has envisioned the sector as the key to economic growth and development in Nigeria.

 However, available data from CBN revealed that NIRSAL which guarantees up to 75 per cent of the bank loans to the sector was initiated in July 2013 to grow loans to the sector to four per cent of banks’ total loans, from the average of 1.5 per cent in 2009.

For the records, NIRSAL which is the initiative of the CBN, the Bankers’ Committee and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), seeks to create incentives and modify all the processes that will encourage the growth of formal credit, direct and indirect, for the agriculture value chain.

*With additional report from Nation

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Nigeria loses 41.6tn on rice importation annually – Nwosu

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Dr Kenneth Nwosu, the former Executive Director, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike, Abia, said Nigeria loses more than 260 billion dollars annually on rice importation, reports NAN.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that Nwosu made this statement while answering questions from members of the Abia House of Assembly during his screening as a commissioner nominee.

He disclosed that presently “Nigeria import more than 5.3 metric tonnes of rice from Thailand annually and that amounts to over $260 billion. As a nation, we have the potential to even produce more than 100 metric tonnes of rice as well as other commodities because our land is fertile and can grow a lot of things.”

He, therefore, advised the state government to key into agricultural policies of the Federal Government to boost food production in the state, while the youths should be engaged in the agriculture sector to check insecurity and unemployment problems.

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Provide special funds for agric sector, CIBN tells FG

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The Federal Government has been called upon to intervene in the implementation of infrastructure development programmes in the country by providing a special intervention fund that will boost development in the agricultural sectors.
 

The President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Mr. Segun Aina gave the charge while speaking at the just concluded 7th Annual Conference of the Institute in Abuja, stressing that the ongoing economic diversification agenda of the government become necessary due to uncertainties in the international oil market and the search by other countries for alternative energy sources.
 

NaijaAgroNet gathered from Aina that the Federal Government has done much in terms of policy frameworks and reforms so far in the power, financial and agricultural sectors to attract investment, while government need to do more by providing the infrastructure and critical need with cheaper long term loans.

“In the year 2009 and 2010, the conference recommended the fast- tracking of the proposal for the development of a Competency Framework and you are all aware that in November 2012, the Central Bank released the guidelines for the implementation of the competency Framework for the Nigerian Banking industry with the Institute as the sole accreditation and certification agency,” he said.

NaijaAgroNet also gathered that the institute expect the government to look into their recommendations, especially in the issue of unique and coordinated National Identification Programme, diversification of the economy away from oil due its global uncertainties, search for alternative energy sources and the discovery of shale oil and gas.

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Asonye laments cost of rice productions, lauds CADP intervention

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An Ofada rice farmer and the Chief Executive Officer of Chileo Farms, Mrs Chinasa  Asonye has decried the cost of rice production in the country.

Speaking to NaijaAgroNet at the 2013 forum organised by the Commercial Agricultural Development Project (CADP) under the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, in an exclusive interview, Mrs. Asonye noted that the cost of rice production posed a lot of challenges to the farmers in Lagos State, until the intervention of the CADP through the provision of equipment and other incentives. 

She said at the event with theme ”Media and the challenges of food security in Nigeria” that despite farmers do not have enough land, CADP intervention to crop has helped to cut down cost to where it is now.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from her that the rice farmers produce once a year and gather all that they have to sell and after that they begin to look for where they can buy.

She called on government to intervene in the area of irrigation, fertilizer, equipment for winnowing the rice, planting the rice.

She explained that the Ofada rice farmers were packaging on their own which increased the cost, until CADP came with the intervention of sponsoring and packaging the rice for the farmers.

“There is nothing like one going into food business because without food you will not be able to satisfy everybody. People should venture in any business about food and agriculture no matter how small they produce; they must always sell to satisfy other people,” Chileo CEO explained.

She told NaijaAgroNet that her product and that of other Ofada rice producers are not in the market because they have limited market and says that they don’t have enough to get into the market, but only supply to people that want it.

“We are clamouring for more campaign so that the campaign for awareness by the media can work. We need more land for farming because it takes a lot especially this red rice that I specialise in producing. The red rice is the short and stunted, brownish in colour from Abeokuta. A lot of people like it, but its more expensive than the Agasa rice which is the long green rice. There are 270specie of Ofada rice so it depends on the one you want to specialise.

“I specialised in red rice and the CADP has helped us with land, winnowing machines and inputs like fertiliser, while we only provide the labour. The CADP intervention has helped, and that is why we can cut down cost. If we do everything by ourselves, consumes of the Ofada rice cannot buy it at N300. They will buy it at almost N800 per kilogramme, so we build in all these cost,” she said.

NaijaAgroNet was informed by Chinasa that her red packaged Ofada rice are in 500kg,1kg and 50kg in bags and the prices are N300 for 500kg, I kg is N600 respectively.

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Dangote to engage 50,000 youths in sugarcane market

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Dangote Group is set to engage about 50,000 youths in sugarcane market following the acquisition of the 80000 hectares of land by company for sugarcane plantation from the Kebbi State Government.

The Kebbi, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Sani Kanya, dropped the hint in Kebbi, and said that the President of the group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote would soon lead a team of experts on sugarcane production  Kebbi State to meet with all stakeholders on the project which would be sited in Uru, Bagudo, Koko/Besse and Shanga local government areas.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the famers in the state that partake in the project would benefit from improved sugarcane seedlings, fertilisers and modern production implements that would be given by the government.

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