DAILY TRUST
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Agriculture
C' ssava farmers partner Suth West governments FfUtlI YemlSaI ~klflt.lbadan arm~rs in t~ SOUtJl \'1esl hOlVc l:ll1cd on governments within the Jonl! 10 create an enabling cnvil~nmcnl thai wuuld facilitatC' II Cif contribution to Internally Generated RC'vcnuc
CASSAVA
(IGR) as Will as enhance the JivIng standanl orlhc people.
South "'est Coordinator of Nigeria Ca5 lava Growen Associ· ation (NCCA). Dr David OgunSOIde. discl, >Sed this in Ibadan
whUe supe:rvislng the dection of
ncw executive of Oro Slate chapter orthc association. He said thai with the federal government's renewled attention to cassava farmmg. the sky was the limit for farmers interested in mass produClion of Ca553va. While noling thai go\'cmmcnl nceded to assist the cassava farm el'S to produce cnm~ under the new agricultural transformation agenda. Ogunsadc noted thai a good working environment meant
that fertilizer should be provided cheaply and dieRlshouJd be sold
at cheAp rates for processors to powe.r their ~uipmmt among other things nee.ded by the.m. He said: -If governmmt lm~rishes ca55llV;) farmt'l'S, th~ will not have. mon~ to pay taxes but whtn you man us rich. we will mhance total r~enue. ~n erated by government_" According to him, by July this year whm the law making cassava a compulsory input in bre.ad
beame 0JXrational, the demand for 1M crop would be so high thaI farmers might not be able 10 meet it. Ogunsade then advised the NCGA mUlli>ers In the South West numbering over 300,000 to plant two hectares each of aus.ava so as to meet theupecltd upslI!'Be in demand. He specificaUy calltd on the Oyo Slate d-.apter to COOJXrate with the newly-elected eucutin> sworn in al the. ocau;ion saymg
that the election should put to an end any form ofinfightingamong memben so that the association could now move forward al a very fast pace. The new dccutives lndude Mr Muideen Adekunle (Chairman). Albaji Bashiru Adesiyan (Vice Chairman), Mr David Ajala (Sec"'tary). Mr Idris Akolade (~Ianl Secretary), Mr Ajanl Sunmonu (Trrasurtt) and MrThomu Adegboye (Financial Secretary).
Nigerian fanners need modern agricultural techniques FromAhmftl Mohammed. Bauchl THE Programme Manager, Bauch! State Agricultural Development Programmes. Dr, Ilf)-a.su Aliyu Gltal. (BASDP). has said thai ~!l po- cent of Nigerian peasant fanners need modem agricultunl t«hniques to F.acilitate maJsive (ood production in the country. Gitaitold newsmen that most Nigerians were living in the rural auas and were peasant farmers, addlng that the lntroduclion o( mechanized agriC\a1tu", would g",atiy enhance their productivity. He said agricultu", was one of the most poteIlLially viable sector of the economy particularly in terms of employment generation as well as contribution to the issues of domestic products and export revenue earnings. On the issue o( fertilizer. the PM assured farmers in the stale that the state govemmmt wudol"g evuything poMible to emure genuine runt! (ilrmers get the commodities. Gital ~id during the last farmmg season. the 5t;JIle gove.rnment purc:haSl'd and distributed over 40.000 lonnes of as.sorted fertilil.et 10 farmeB in Ihestate..
New agricultural biodiversity projectto improve nutrition and food security worldwide PLACING renewed Ullphuis on sustaining Ille natural variety o( crofs and animals contributing to agriculture, includIng neglKted yt:t nutritiow traditional (oods, an improve (ood s«urity iUld addr-ess growiIlg global concerns O'rer poor nutrllion and fIJI negative health effecu,officiaissald al the launch o( a new in'emational project at the World Nutrition Rio Con,
gress 2012_ THE BlodiJersily for Food <lnd Nulntlon Pro;!'ct alms to address
the narrowing variety of people's diets. with nulritJonally+poor processed foods dominatlng the dinner table.. This trend has led to a rafl of health issues worldwide. One lhird of the world's population sufTen; from hunger and micronulrient malnutrition, while obesity and dlet+rdated chronic i1lnes:s have reached crilical levw, THE diversity of crops ~nd their Wild re:iatives, trees, animals, mICrobes and other species contributing 10 (ood production -
known as agricul tural biodiversity - can counler these !.rends, according to Emile Frison. Director Gmeral ofBioversity InteJlllltional, which is roordinallng the project to further research and promote the links betWttn biodiversity and good Dutrition. -TO meet the challenge o((etd,ing the ,,"'Orld population of around nine billion by 2050, Wi! need to consider not only sustainably producing sufficient food but also working IOwards diversified l1utrilion. which
m~ns providing a healthy diel (or all," said Braulio Dias., Exec+ uLive Secretary. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological DivCl'Sity (CBD), ~Agrlcu1turaJ biodiversity plays a cenLn.1 role in m«ting this challenge." THE Global Environment facility (GEF), the world's lugest public funde.r o( international environmental projects, issuppor-ling the multi-country project led by Bruil, Ke.nya, Sri Lanka and Turuy_ Bio\'ersity ImernaLional Is coordinating the projccl with
implementation support from tile United Nations Environml!nt Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agricultu", OrganizaLion of the United Nations (FAD). -THE GEF Is malting efforts to expand its engagement in the conser.-ation and management of agricultural blodh'crsity. which provides the mainslay for millions of people worldwide. and rood 5CCurity to the world$ most vul nl!n.ble populations.," said Momque Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF