By Ifeanyi Olannye

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa has injected N8 billion sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria into the Agro-Industrial Park project in Aboh-Ogwashi in Aniocha South Local Government Area.

Mr Charles Aniagwu, the state Commissioner for Information, said this on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the project.

He added that the project partners were also coming in with their resources to fund and develop the park.

According to him, the agro-industrial park will be a catalyst for economic transformation in the state as it is a strong commitment of Okowa’s administration to grow a Delta economy not dependent on oil.

Aniagwu said when completed, the park would provide agro-processing value-chain services to farmers in the state.

“Delta has been known for oil but we have also said that this is the time to move beyond oil and that it is not going to be mere rhetoric.

“We have come here today to see for ourselves what we have done so far with respect to the Delta Agro-Industrial Park.

“We believe that by the time the park comes fully on stream, farmers within the environment and in different parts of the state will take advantage of the different factories and industries located in it for processing their produce.

“Our people lose value of their produce because of lack of processing facilities and I am glad that this industrial park will bring in additional value for our farmers when completed and inaugurated,” he said.

Aniagwu said that the park would also enhance the capacity of farmers who will take advantage of the mechanisation that would take place at the park.

He said that when the park is completed and started operations, it would take Delta far from what it used to be.

Aniagwu said that although companies were shutting down, people must still eat in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

He added that the government believed that the industrial park would be the next frontier for Delta.

On his part, Prof. Eric Eboh, Chief Job Creation Officer, Delta State Bureau for Job Creation, said that the project was well conceived to provide a one-stop-shop solution for farmers and industrialists in the state.

Eboh said that the essence of the project was to provide a safe operating space for agro-allied industries and factories to process agricultural raw materials into edible or finished products.

“Lack of processing facilities is one of the missing links in the agricultural value-chain, so it is expected that this Agro-Industrial Park will be a game changer for Delta.

“It is one of its kind in the country and it has great prospects for the turnaround of the agricultural economy of the state,’’ he said.

Eboh said that the park was a multi-purpose agro-industrial park which would accommodate agro-processing of different agricultural products whether root or tuber crops, grains and livestock, among others.

“In terms of the potential impact, it is humongous – social, economic and developmental – to the agricultural value-chain of Delta.

“The benefits of the project have been validated by National and International Financing Organisations and we are confident that this project will stand the test of time even after Okowa’s exit as governor,” he said.

The Project Coordinator, Mr Ran Yogev of Sequoia Group, said that the site is 220 hectares and was selected because of its nearness to the Ogwashi-Uku Dam.

He added that the engineering, procurement and construction of the project were expected to be completed within 18 months. (NAN).

By Ikenna Uwadileke

The Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) on Monday called on the Federal Government to increase the level of funding for oil palm research and development.

OPGAN’s president, Mr Joe Onyiuke, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that such increase in funds would subsequently lead to increase in oil palm production in the country.

Onyiuke, who commended the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) on its efforts at repositioning the oil palm industry through research, said that the institute needed more funding.

“NIFOR is the number one institute for research on oil palm, and it is a glorious thing that Nigeria can today grow oil palm in the north, in Niger, Kaduna, Plateau and Taraba.

“So, what are we waiting for? Even with the small money it is receiving, NIFOR has done so much that today it has the tenera seedlings that within 36 months are already producing.

“NIFOR has been able to do that, and has increased yield per tonne such that the seedling can produce up to 36,000 tonnes; so we need massive support from the government.

“We need to get the necessary funding from the government to increase the production, and the multiplying effect is tremendous in terms of employment,’’ he said.

Onyiuke, who also noted the importance of research, added that research into the sector would support government’s effort at diversifying the economy thus, leading to less dependence on crude oil.

Available statistics showed that funding for NIFOR went down from N2.27 billion in 2010 to N1.57 billion in 2015, then, grew from N1.58 billion in 2016 to N1.94 billion in 2020.

By Benson Ezugwu

Mr Godshield Kanjal, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Kalmz Farms Limited, Ogoja, has appealed to governments at all levels to assist in training rural farmers on modern farming.

Kanjal made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Calabar.

“Today’s farming is no longer what it used to be. A lot of technologies are now employed in farming. It is no longer the crude way farmers used to know.

“These days, drones are being used to fight pest globally. How many farmers in Nigeria have seen drones, not to talk of using them?

“So, I appeal to government at all levels to assist our farmers, especially rural farmers by exposing them to modern farming methods,’’ Kanjal said.

According to him, governments have not been doing enough to encourage dry season irrigation farming.

“We are just introducing irrigation farming in Cross River North Senatorial District through the River Ogoja by individual efforts.

“We plant vegetables including, okro, flutted pumpkin and tomatoes, and the demand is quite high.

“I have even gone ahead to introduce onion farming which is alien to our farmers, and it’s going on well,’’ he said.

He, however, said that most farmers lacked the needed funding for expansion.

According to Kanjal, many beneficiaries of the various agriculture loans given out by government are not real farmers.

He called on government to ensure that those granted such loans are genuine farmers so as to achieve the purpose – ensuring food security. (NAN)

By Olayinka Olawale

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has called for the adoption of policies that would support all-year-round farming to mitigate hunger and malnutrition in the country.

AFAN’s National President, Mr Kabri Ibrahim, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Ibrahim said that all-year-round farming would enable the country feed its growing population.

He said that the country would overcome issues relating to food scarcity, insufficiency and insecurity by embracing all-year-round farming.

The president who observed that the present seasonal farming was old fashioned stressed the need for sustained food production to feed the nation.

Ibrahim said that the country needed to move away from the traditional rain-fed practice to all-year-farming, adding that it would aid food security.

“Nigeria can mitigate issues related to food scarcity by practising agriculture all year round and not the dependence on rainfall that dominates the practice now.

“When you do all-year-round agriculture, you don’t have any gaps and this is what happens in some of the countries that have food security.

“If you look at some countries in Europe and the United States, as well as Brazil, they do agriculture all year round except those times when the climate will not allow.

“What they do is to produce food that will thrive in the climatic conditions prevailing at that time.

“In the middle of winter for instance, in France, you might not be able to grow corn but you can grow other things that thrive, you simply concentrate on them.

“In our environment, it is even more doable because we do not have a situation that prevents us from practising agriculture all year round,” he said.

Ibrahim said that farmers can concentrate on crops that thrives more during the harmattan and vis-a-vis the rainy season.

He called for the adoption of long-term strategies, new method and policies among the stakeholders in the private and public sector to achieve the goal.

Ibrahim listed some of the challenges mitigating all-year-round farming to include policy inconsistency, funding, poor irrigation system and lack of political will.

He also said that poor water management system posed a great threat to farming all year round.

He urged the Federal Government to improve irrigation systems, encourage mechanised farming as well as create access roads in order to increase food production and security in the country.

“We do farming when the rains come and the only thing that prevents you is the torrential rain.

“During the cold or the harmattan we experience in the North, it will still not prevent anybody from doing the dry season farming.

“The tomatoes that we use now are planted during the harmattan. There are crops that even thrive during harmattan or during the cold season, like wheat.

“Farmers can produce a lot of wheat during the cold,” he said. (NAN)

By Rita Iliya

Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger, says his administration is committed to actualising the Bobi Grazing Reserve located along Mariga and Mashegu local government areas of the state.

Bello made this known when he visited the Bobi Grazing Reserve to inspect activities on the reserve which were being affected by the increasing cases of armed banditry in the area, saying that government would do whatever it takes to secure the place.

“Without having to give details, I can assure you that we are committed and determined to put in place high-level security measures that will safeguard both government and private sector investments here,” he said.

Bello urged the Fulani communities within the grazing reserve to embrace and key into the Ruga Settlement Programme for their socioeconomic prosperity and in the overall interest of the state.

He charged them to be vigilant and security conscious, protect all facilities and equipment in the reserve, be accommodative but cautious in harboring those ‘wicked’ people who may be out to disrupt the arrangements.

In his remarks, Malam Ardo Abubakar, Leader of the community in the Bobi Grazing Reserve, expressed optimism that the project would be a huge success.

“We have witnessed the planting and harvest of the pastures, we have also seen the reality of artificial insemination and crossbreeding.

‘We are convinced about its potentials as a lucrative and dependable business,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the reserve, which was established by the Northern Region administration, sits on 31, 000 hectares of lush vegetation, with forest stretching several kilometers on end.

It is divided into seven blocks with about 700 households and six earth dams.

It also boasts of solar-powered boreholes and seven pasture blocks.

The reserve, which has been dormant for about six decades is now a beehive of activities.

Every section of the reserve is undergoing transformation as key investors struggle to outclass each other to grab the opportunities thrown up by the Federal Government.

Hong Kong’s food safety authority on Monday decided to suspend the import of poultry meat and products from different areas in Germany, Poland and Japan due to the bird flu outbreaks.

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said.

It said this was in view of notifications from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Spree-Neiße District, the State of Brandenburg in Germany.

Also a notification from the General Veterinary Inspectorate of Poland about outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Łęczyński District, Lubelskie Region in Poland.

Another notification was from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Gifu Prefecture in Japan.

The CFS has instructed the trade department to suspend the importation of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from these areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong. (Xinhua/NAN)

By David Adeoye

The Federal Government and the South-West Governors have been urged to urgently adopt irrigation farming to overcome the projected food shortage this year.

The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji,  and two traditional worshippers in Oyo State,  Dr Biodun Agboola and Dr Fayemi Fakayode, made the call at the installation ceremony of Fakayode as the Mogaji of Onibudo family at Oke Aremo, Yemetu, Ibadan.

Oba Adetunji, who was represented at the event by Chief Shina-Olatunji Aresa, the Mogaji of Okiti family in Ibadan, stated that “for Nigeria to avert food shortage in the new year efforts should be directed toward irrigation farming.

“This will mitigate the effects of bad weather on planting while farmers should also be protected from criminals that attack and destroy their farms.

“We should see that the time has come for us to realise that the way we practice farming here in the South-West Zone cannot sustain us.

“The food shortage projection is predicated on so many reasons ranging from bad weather, insecurity and largely the poor funding from the government,’’ the Olubadan stated.

On their part, the Secretary-General, International Council for Ifa Religio, Dr Biodun Agboola and Dr Dr Fayemi Fakayode,  Secretary, Traditional Religion Worshippers Association of Nigeria, Oyo state branch,  called for collaboration among Southwest states, to ensure food sufficiency this year.

Agboola, who is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile Ife, said irrigation system could bring lasting solution to the food crisis in Nigeria.

“As a famer, I have come to realise that the problem farmers encounter is lack of good facilities and infrastructure in their farms.

“And for the citizens to escape hunger we must produce more food, the South-West governors should collaborate and evolve solutions to this problem.

“They should adopt mass irrigation farming as the permanent solution to food crisis in the region,” he stated.

Fakayode added:  “We have Ikere Gorge Dam at Iseyin in Oyo state, Erelu Water Works, Asejire in Osun and others which can be used to assist farming settlements along these areas.” (NAN)