I 25 I ----------.-=========~==================~ DAILY TRUST
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IFAD, 1'(; .!>ends N300m onagricprogramme in CmssR ye.r nIElntnrw.orWFoodandAgIio,lIurall'rnlopmenl (lFAD) in a.llabonhon "ith the Federal Govmunml Sfenl N300 million (er the illlplc_ ll~UHon of Com-
munily-Wscd Nalional Raoums Wanagmlml PtugrammrlnCross
.......Mr
innoo nl
Ogbin. the stale
ProgramlJ'le Oflla!r in charge of U'AD di9~ tlw. 120 agrk:ultur.al proect:. 1la'.""I! 50 &r b«n ullplcnclltcd in 27 mmmwUties
srread ac~
DnC
local. ~
",ml&m\;of'hc-stat.r.addiltg. "1M p"'gr.lJlIl'le iz sponsored by IFAD If" culliI.bo ·r,Bjoo with the FtderaI GowrnmmLl"lS'!r Della ~
opmml Coruni55ion (NODC). CrouRn·!I'"St.ll,·(io,.'l:rI1IDeI1laod Ioal goo.otmn ICIII. counals. -"Jhc Conuoonlty Oevdopmeru Fun.t (a IF) .!f'proach applied In r comfl'unilin In 171 fanners and('JltJ:r:>ri5.~ 'rollpioul of a laTwt ofZ89 ~'nting59 per aru."
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Mr AkxOrim, onc oflhe bendldula UfJtued apprmatiOn lO the Fcdcrnl GO'it'fllmrmt. sayIrg that CV rrt}ea had put food on his tIbIe. axmg. "W'C' kd good bo-aust L'le taicnl Govnnmeru hu been m lbe busu1esti WIth us if lel\~lllgr.lI'"o\w IS ycarsand
Don't eat seedlings, farmers warned
'Hungry rice' (Accha), Africa's most nutritious food
hom JohDItmrMY IJzDnM.. 0Wtrrl
From LnaI IbfJhlm, 611mbe
F \II.M£lts 1'1 he country tu.vc being ca>ltioOtd not 10 eal dll~ grain ~ llin5S suppllaJ 10 th~m ire.!' un.;cr d'~ new Growth Enhaoct'-nent Support (GES) kheme initi.1t.!d of the Federal GOvmln Ull f<-r planting.
HUNGRY rice or while fQfuo, a30 II is called_ is the smallest speoe of millet' harvested in some parts or the West African sub-region including the lake Chad coast and Cenlnll Nigeria ...ith PlAteau. Kaduna.. Bumo. GoInbe, Bauchi, Kosi and Niger IllIles leading in lIS producti',n. 1t iscommonlyknown m Nigeri;! tlS Accha. "ccha farmers in Gombe State that 'poke to Duily Trust $lid the crop reaches nulurity In six 10 eight W't:('ks thereby mahng " passibl~ \0 grow on semi -~rid areas with poor soils, where raws are brief amI unreliable like In some parts or the far northern stateS where ramfallis not as much as in theSoulh T....", major Aa:hafarmen tnthe' slate. Alhaji Kuhereand 81llUJ BaganJe. said in diffemtt interview! Ihat Accha I! not planted like other crops but spttad/stRwn on a ckared fannland. KasbeR said "We fintof all clcarthe fum land then.sprnd the 5eeds on the cleared land. After one or two rain rail it starl! germillllting. "Acch.. growllik.egrISL Within II maJtimum period 0( two months II Will be ready for huvest. II does: not IUce 1<)0 much ralI1 and in some places you don't even need 10 clear gnw allhe farm before it is harvested But at areas with enough ndnfa/I, you will clear gf1S$ 0flC5
tt-erciJllf'imrrn~mmtln~pro gra/JI;"~said.('iA.N)
Pmna lmls.-cmuruthe Fedcn1 Min'ltJ1 of AgricuhUR 8I'd N.itur.al R,":SOt, rc!L Dr.Ezekiel 0)" IN.1I1U ga- e thewamint! In Oweni ",hile ~ <-IT the dIStribution c:i ferulaer anc: dJsbuncmcnt of agric kJaJl to 'iumers in imo Stale
u,.Jcrdw GE1l'rognunIDe. Rqlmmll'd by the ministry's RegionaJ Dirfdor. Dr lkhe Nw;aflY, i>r Or~roonl warned fanners that the JHds ·ltrnot meant. fOrClIing hcau;c thr-- contained chem-
Icals wbkh ",auld be injurious to h'.llJW1 bo.~ l>'hen coosumtd. Gowmor ~dwOlcorocha in lu!addJe>l dtli''ft'rd ill the oo:asdonbyhi\depu y.Sir Jude Agbaso,
said the.,:ale I" .unIDftlI has PI''!)·
om 251lJX)llqgs olNPK (erti-
lizer lOr dishil ~ion to fannen and NlSll m:1b:m agriC 10WlS for
diJbuneJuenI ul65Qcommunllybmdlda"iesln .bestate. Ue saki the 2.50.000 bags u in-
tilittr pmvicbl by me. Jlale goy. emmatlll acno:d at compUmmt-
u'8theFcdernl ~Istwo
bags50kl toeadl ~ fanner in the st.1te unks- the GES pro-
....
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before harvest; he sud. Expbining the process ofhar w:5tlllg Accha. Bulus Saganrr RId after harvesting it fmm the farm, the crop in its husk IS sold oullo middlemen at N200 to N250 per mnsun!. adding Ihal Rthese mId Jlanal will employ .... omen who pound il (Of them in morlar. The P"J'CG:' of rrmoving il (rom the husk IS harder than farming iL -nle Accha in Its shel1 is mixed with ~harp sand and pounded in mortar then t... lttn to the nver or ""here you can gel enough wala and ....-;;ash iL That is why you can ne\'Cf separate it with sand complelt:ly_ When the proceslis rom p{ete, we go back to the middle· men and buy the processed grain at N4SO pn the same mel!SUre Imudu) and .sdllo consumers OIl N700 to NBOO. 'Ibal is where we mahourgain. Most ofthe people Jelling il are Ihe f;!rnlers but wedo not process It; he 5.1id. A professional caterer. Mrs Safiy. Ovayou. OJ mowo said lhe grain is uscd in prqnring accha porridge ealeo with vegetables. milk-porridge taken like coca oals and thai il CIlIl be prepared like Semovita and ealen with any IOUp and also used to prepare COUKOUS and bread. -It has potential 10 Impm~"C nutntion. II Is a very nch food wilh "eryliule !tarch_ That is why diabetic palients take it as tJleir main food In ·10g0. Accha is
called OV;! iUld is lISed in malrJllg lhe richest lraditional food. The process of removing Ihe husk is vt'I1' hard_In Togo, they have fab · ncated fonlo husking machine that makes Ihe process ta5)'_ The Nigerian gOllernment can help the f;!rmen in procuringaccha husking madunes.-.she urged.. An Abuja-bued Gambian national. AlhaJI Daho who trav elled far and wide in the West Arncan ~ub-region said accha is nlOrt widely produced and consumed in Mah. 8ul'iuna Faso and Guinea than Nigeria. ;todd ins. -, Mve seen thai accha IS not well known 10 so many people in Nigeria. There are few places it Is sold in Abuja.ln Ihoseother West African countnes prodUcing it. )'Ou must add it 10 items you are sending to your m - Ia~ ""hen you wanllo marry neWly. That is how important it is. ·I..a~ hKlaresonand are enmarked in Ihoseother Wesl Afn can countries ror the produclion of accha. That is not done here. I have not ~n seen a big fum In this «K1nlry fOf accha production. Dut I know it Is Ihe fastes t growIng cereal and Iheoldest in Africa. Oespik its melent hl!'rilage and
wktespread
impof1~nce.
knowl-
edge of (on)o$ evolution. OriglO, dmribution. and ~etic di~ity remains KlInt even within Welit Africa it.seIr.I~ Ald. A consult.nt phYSIcian. Dr
San! lijjanl orlhe Fl!deral Medi cal C~nlr~. Katsina. dl!'5Cnbcd It as ~ hIghly nulrllious food Ihalls oflen recommended (or diabel1<; pat ienlS in ",ew onts Significance 10 Ihem due 10 il! low sugar con · tent that could nol aggravate the disease " Its n01 aClually because It has any special mnlicinal properly but thebaselme Ullhal il isa whule gr.un meal, ifyolliookal Il$siu il Is small and the smaller Ihe gram the higher the pe:rcentage of tnt fiber in iL So il has less carbohy drate content Ih~ other grairu in Its category," he pomted OUI. Dr TiJjanl said acch.1 is what they call a complex carbohydrate that is difficult 10 digest becausethe enzymes cannot easily digest lhl!' foods of that category due 10 what he cal1aJ a low glydemic index m~asurement that will show the amount of sugar it will gille to anyone who consumaJ it In the same vein. Dr H.1lima YelW';l. Ad~mu. a consultvlt pediatrician and first femall!' doctOf" In Northern Nigerhl describe the crop as • hIghly nutritious food that contain! high Vitamin! bi:causc unlike most foodJ Ihat had 10 be sieved in tMir Pn!pl rnlions. the fonio is consumed wholly b«:ause its better tlWI &11 the tuber based rooas:-aescnb Ing it as a crop whose production should be encoul'1lgcd In the enlin! counlry.