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DAILY T RUST
Tuesday, September 20, 20 11
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Business IAgric Borno to receive $9m from W IBank By TIna A. HaNlI BORNO Slatr. farmers under the J:ada.ma prognmme are to benef'lt from a $9 million (N I, 358,000,000) counterpart support fronl the World Balik If the sta\l.' and local governll"ents meet the required commitment in Us counterpart payment, the National Proj ect Coordinator (NPC) of the National Programme for Agriculture and Food Security (NPAFS). Abdulnee:r. M ohammed said this at a meeling with govemor Hulilm Sheuima.ln AbUjL
He said Borno State is lagging behind In ElIciting its counterpart funding (or lhe Fadama prog.... mme thereby slowing down the rate of Implementation of th e programme. He said th e World Bank has cumarktd a total 0(S9 million as support to the.' state but the: backlog of pa)'ment :ll1'ft.rs from past adminiSlntions has made: it difficult 10 assess the: fund since: the: programme work ls based on a counterpart funding formula consisting the development partners, slates, local governments Ind!.he bentlit-
ing co mmunities (farme rs). ~Borno Slate: is not participating effeclively In the Fadam. projcctswwc arc asking lhe state to take part In this laudable project which h as been proven to be successful in participating stales and about $9 m illiO n hu been ClllTnarked for Bomo State;" he sald. On his part. G(JVf'mor Slu:ttirnaassured the NPCof fuUpayment of counterpart fund by the Slate saying he hu the determination. thewiU and commitment to grow and revolutioniu: agriculnue in the state and provkle
mlployment to unemployc.d youths. He said: "We arc wUling to embrace the latest technologies and Input for bounti· ful harvest especIally in the fa ce of growLng population. Agriculture Is the m~h15t ay of Nigeria and the low level insurgency in . Borno Is largely due 10 uncmplo}'fTlent. hunger and illiteracy which arc dangerous and agriculture is our only galeway 10 provide employment (or our youths. "So v:e are poIRd to buy into all )'Our programmes and encourage ,-a!ue addition in agriculture," he said.
'Valueaddition key to cassava revolution in Nigeria' EFFORTS 10 add w lue to crops such as cassava n:qui~ mon: attention UI~ n C'\"CT before to 1nI1.<fonn Nigeria's agricultural sector, Ule Dil'C'C· tor General. Intcnmtional Institule ofTrorical Agricul. ture (UTA ). Or. Peter Han·
maJlnhass:tid He said apart fmm inlprovlng f.lrmtn· incom es., value addition has the abLUtr toaddressthelncn:a5mgbd ofu ncmploymcnt in Nigeria. 1·lartmann was rqJresenlc:tl by Or. Gbass.cy Tarawali. a scientist " iih IITA. at a stakc:holder forum 10 maJ k the md of the L"FCfunded Cassa\"I Value allin Project in Nigc:ria,a stalmlmt
Tradi ng in cotton at stockmarket starts November from Ihllhlm 1~1fS1 Giginyv. Kaoo Fc;n .1.0W lt lG the enlistin g of collon as one of in~l ro men t II) br t raded ltlhe floor of th e Nlge. rian Stock Eychangr anc l the oulcome oft hcsub· sequent mc:ttlngs hcld between the AbujaSecurit)' and COlI"modity Exchange (ASCE). Nation.u Cott011 N;~odl tion or Nigeria (NACOTAN) and Na llonal Tc."tlile Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (NTMA). Novembc-r 1 has been agreed 10 be the act'Jai date the lradillg of cotto n on th e 11 00rwiUst ~ rt.
(rom Jn~ said.
This wascon lailled In. repo rt oflhe meetiJ1 g He said the Ir.KIing will be in a direct dealing whichwillOlablethetradnnndlbebuyerslotnde hc:ld on Jul y 28, which WilS adoptttl during th e l rd and fi lial nl cctlng between the three bodtoday and coIIc:a their money tomorrow, wilich he ies hc:ld o n the tradi ng 1100r of AbuJa Securuies said will motiv.!le the \r.I:dm and Ult burns. and Com modity uc hange, Kano Sport ma rket - - Hanlman Ali Kwaj affa o( NTMA called on office. Kano. U stakehold ers ;n tile co tlo n industr y to cfTec· The General Head Opetlltion oflhe Exchange, .I"elyulilize the de\"Clopmellt rr:<orded by enlis t· Mr. l)cnson La...... l woochaircd the llleetttl8 Ja)'li 10 Ing cotto n as an inslrumen t for trading dti th r get the sdlcrs and the buyen OIlboMd brfore ule 1100r oflhr stock exchange. He a1.so called on actual trading commenced. two separate tr.I.ining governmento; of collon producing state, to usist sasions havr been s!alc:tl (or Septelllbcr 21 and 22. farmers al the grassroots for effeclh'e and and October 19and 20. cient rc:sulL
ern·
Maize/Green Revolution/in Nigeria underway 8r OIeptmi R. lbnhlm NI G ERIA ... ill raise maize production 10 20 n lillion tons per annum up f~mJhe current 8 m Ullo ns Ions in the na t few yurs. the l\Unister of Agrkultllre and Rum Developmet'l, o r! Akin Adcslna l Ias said. TIle mo n: is part of efforts to enhance (o')d secu rity, crrate Jobs and protect Nigeria from the effects of rising (D?d prices. A(Jcsina s.ald during a meeting with a leam of mail:\! expects In AbuJa. Dr. Ad e-:lna said the new efforts would tram(oml the malu: industry and make f, ' mllng morr profitable. Maize if consumed by millions of NiguiaJlS and its produCllvity hu been hindered by low adolltion
of Improved seeds, poor seed qu al. ity. linle or no use o f fr:rti!iu:J$, low in\'tStment in research fundingand poor atension savict$. In the 1980s, Nigeria experi· enced a sUent Mai2:e Revolution In the $IYa1l1lah but the transformation was not sustained. "We have begun a journey of transfonnation. a journey to re o engineer Nigerian agrlcultun: for high Impact and suC(:es,s." the MiniSier said lilcn:uing mai.tc production will ensure food security and genera te income and jobs. Adesina called on cxpcr1$ to tnnslate research and In novations Into imparuOIl farmers' fidds,add· Ing that "we must do th is at a Kale
thai can red uce hunger and poverty.~ According to him, government has resolved to "rcbuUd the broken walls of Nige ria's agricul ture, and "Our resolve is dear: Grow Nigerian Agricultu re.~ The maize tea.m, on Sunday, submitted a bluep ri nt on how to achieve the new targets. O r. Sam Ajala, IITA Maize BJ«dn-, Aid the focus on maize wu a step in the righ t direction. ~If you look at malu, II has the highest. rrturn on Investment CO ffip~ wi th other.cro ps. So If we arc able to get it right In malu It will be grell t; he said. Researchers aim at leveraging o n earlier successes reco rded under the Doubling Malt.e Project
th at pro~ that maize yidd could be doubled on fllTT'lct1' fidds. The nm move will also benefit from the plethora of Innovations that arc sti1I ill Intemational and national research crnlen waltlng to be adopted by farmers. FOR instan ce, high-yielding and dl5t1lSe·res istant varieties that are adaptable to Nigeria's various agr· o«ological wnes and drought and Striga-resiJ tant varieties Ihat could addrns on-farm st resses, would be deployed 10 farmers. wh ile early, intcnnedlate and late· maturing varieties with yields up to thrice as m uch u traditional varieties will help farmers t3ckle the negative effects of climale change;" AJaia said.
ImplemCllIc:dby IITA and its national partnc:rs. Hartmann says thccstablishment of cassava pl"(ltt\$lng C1:ntc:rs In "Iasaka. Lafia and Ko}e for U~ production of gari. (ufu, cassava fl OW" and starch Is pmdud ng pmiti\"e rcsult.s by offering new stream s of incomes to til e benefiting COllllllunitic::t. ....Vith an annual production of about 44 mill ion toIlS ofcassava. Nigeria I$texbylhe world's Iellder of cassava, but ule counU"y is ret to h~ the muimum bmrrll from cusava due to Inadequate processingl'xilitic:s. ThlssubJc:cts the crop 10 seasonal giUL "'This is an area that needs urgent ' ttmtion:' Hartmann aid PnmallCllI Sc:o-ctary. Ministry orI'radeand In'le$!· menlo Dr. Abubakar Abdul· 1ahi $dd value addition 10cassava woWd help tum around thefortW1CSoff~
He was repn:smtcd by l>tr. JuUus Apants!!e at the ~=,
He saldcas.wva.ofTcrs tremendous opportunities ulat would further broaden U~ country:' c:conon~ liability and Improvt= Its compctitl~ ness particularly in the nonoil sedor.