DAILY SUN, 25 JUNE, 2011

BusinesS WEEK JUNE 25,2012

29

AGROBIZ

UNN develops new garden egg variety crime, they become productive to themselves and contribute to n; ltional growth.

We are discouraging the application of synthetic fertilizer for obvious reasons.

From KASSIDY UCHENDU, Nsukka

~

e

Departmellt of Crop

Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, at ,he

University

oJ

Nigeria,

Agric reIonns not on Tv, new.paper

NsukJw, is setting the pace

for 'lte realization of Federal Governme"t'S Agriculhtral transformation ageirda. Duri"g the current farming season, it has embarked on ,Ire cultivation of several areas of land for I"e mas!J" produc-

tion of a new variety of (Solanium Me/angina), otherwise known as gart/ell

egg. n,is varh~(y. accordillg 10 the Head of CI'OP Science Department. Prof Michael Uguru, has a big advantage over tbe white variety produced ill Northern Nigeria.

He said, the UNN variety is grl!enis/i, bitler and ho.'I I~igh medicinal value. Pm[essor Michael Ugwu saill the

Federal Government s Agricultural n 'ousjomwlioll Agenda is

wilholll blemish. but picked holes in its implementation.

"AgriculfUral re/OI7I1S canno t be achieved 011 the pages a/newspapers, televisioll s,;reells or even in COI/ferences . .. Ugtll1l stressed.

He called for harnessing q( the services q( honest Nigerian agriculturists lI'ilh a passion lO tum agriculture aroulld, saying thaI this 1:\' the olily way tile cOllnfry~' agl'icllllllml agellda could be (Jc/iic..'Ved. fIe spoke 10 Daily SUII ill (he farm located in 'he w li-

versify campus.

Excelpls:

Mass

Production

of

S%nium Me/angina.

This is the white ((Ulyam) popularly called garden egg. It has been coming from the northern part of Nigeria and the whole country depend, on the supply from that area. So we Sai9 •no'. t.his is not very right, and decidcd to find a variety adaptilble to our o\vn envi-

ronment...and we started growing it here. And now we can supplement whatev': er is coming from the north.

Today, we have the green solanium and we are mass producing it; we are using the students of the Faeulty of Agriculture. We can have enough for the · South Enstenl Nigeria, the excess can be sent to other parts of Nigeria .

Advantage of SoIanium

green variety One good advantage of the green solanium melang ina is that it is medicinal.

Nutritionists and medical doctors will tell you this. It is bitter. It is quite differen( from the while variety from the north. It is rieher both i" terms of nutrition and in medicinal value. The one from the north is not bitter.

If we are supported by investors, we can also produce enough for Southern Nigeria. The variety is not H

easily perishable; its greenness can be· sustained for a week.

We are training our studenlS for maximum out put, that is minimum input with maximum output; that is efficiency. We are training them for efficiency, so that they ean make profit, and know when, where and how 10 plant thc seed for maximum result. Also, we teach them to use organic fertilizer. I f our youths are gainfully employed, they will shun

The new Agricultural Transfonnation Agenda (ATA) of the federal government is good, ideal and spotless, but its implementarion is zero. Now that we are talking about agrieultural refonn, every energy is being mobilized to realize the goal. The important thing is to do what we say. Agril: rc form can not be achieved on TV screens, newspapers or in conferences. It is in the field using the right people. There are passionate people ill this countty who arc honest and sincere that are ready to work for the nation selflessly. It is the duty of the fedc",1 govemmenl to hunt for Nigerians who are ready to offer .their services selilessly to realize the federal government's goals in its agnc refonn agenda. They should find those whq are ready 10 nm the pr<r gramme and recruit them,just as clubs hunt for footballers.

There are a 101 of Nigerians who are passionate and honest to make the rcfonn agenda achievable. The youthswhy are they going into thuggery? Why lire they throwing bombs? It is becallse they tiro not gainfully employed.

Agriculture has the pOlenri<ll 10 engage our youths and the nation will become a better plane for all of liS.

e push for a 'Green Revolution ' in Africa

l1

to increase agricultur-

al production for food and economic development wiU not bear much fruit if adequate attention is DOt paid to managing soil fertility on the continent, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, direc~ tor general of tbe

International Institute for Tropical Agrkulturc,

Green Revolution: Solid soil fertility management is' key production.

He sa id while acknowl· edging that much invesbnent

"Solid soil lertility man-

had gone intO developing rugh-yielding cassava varieties that are resistant to some of the major pests and diseases, the OTA DG said the gains achieved in the breeding work canno t be reaJizcd if these vruieties are grown on .poor soils.

He said it was unfortunate that cassava had been tagged for rrony yew, as a poor

agement is key .. , For cassa,va commercialization and OUf Green Revolution, we need to use fertilizers organjc and inorganic alongside the high-yielding

man 's crop that does Dot require much input such as

' and disease-resistant varieties," hc said.

Across Africa. current application of soil nutrient, whether organic or inorganic fertilizers, is estimated fit 8· kg/ha. Researchers say tile. amGwlt is low, and it is one

fertilizers. He argued that the

of the major setbacks to the

a r'Brown

crop harvests as much nutti·

continent's vision of ade-

Revolution' - a tcnn he used , referring to the improvement of soil conditions \brough the application of organic and inorganic fertilizers.

"Soil fertility is one of the missing, jinks-in 'he s!ruggle to commercialize cassava.

enl!-> fi'om the soil as other

quately feeding il,elf.

Union Ti,e" A frican accepts this verdict and bllS

.badan, has said.

Addressing participants at Cnssava the Global Partnership conference in Kampala, which ended on Friday, Dr. Sanginga said Afi"ica cannot achieve a Green Revolution without

first

having

For _no~ entrepreneurs involved in cac;sava ~cess­ ing are saying thai: tJ.]ere lsn'l"t enough cassava whereas fanners, on the other hand,

crops: and ·that these nu·trients' need 10 be replenisbed.

"Nulrient use in cassava has b:een very minim3J, as it is considered a poor man's crop. Howevf r. if we are talkiRg "boot cassava IfaBs· formation; about increasine cassav~ production not o.nly for food, but also for com-

merCial purposes, we must change these wrong percel>' tions. If we think of growing

are saying that there are no cassava in soils that are too -poor for other Grops such as markets."

called on countries in the

• IITA 00, Dr,

Nteranya

maize, then we are missing fhe olber hair-of the equa-

increased production to feed additional

m'oulhs.

H6wevcr, increllsiHg pljpula-

tion," he said \. tion bas also been-leading to Dr Sanginga said the , a shortage of land to expand African population has been production. Therefore, the ris ing "'pidly requiring continent has to intensiJY its

continent to i.ncrease application of soil nUlIients to 50 kWha of nutrients combining .both orgaDic and -inorganic fertilizers .

Cassava production suI>' JX!rls more than 25 Per cent of Tarminghvusebolds to sub-Saharan Africa, equivalent to Over 100 million pe0ple. Overall, over 60 per

cent of the ·world!s cassava

IS grown in the continent yet the yields are very low, aver-

aging 10 tonslba com pared

to over 40 tooplha achieved in Asia and Latin America where tbe crop is grown for commercial, use.

The Global Cassava Partnership for the 21 st Century (GCP21) conference started On June 18 and ended on ·22. The GCP21 consists of 45 member ~ti­ tutions working on reseru.::b

and development oftassav<l, a staple crop retied .on by more than 700 miUion pel'-

pie worldwide. The ultimate goal of the partners~ip is to improve Cassava productivity through. scientific research and development.

The conference participants, includ~ represent.atives from NAAS,- inremationa t agricultural research centers, advanced laboratoFies and

wti¥ersities-fiom d<>veloped. and developing countries,

United Nations' agencies, governmental and non-governmental organizations.