it! DAllYTRUsr
25
Wednesday. November 21, 2012
interview
AGRICULTURE Interviews by Abdulwasiu H....n
tnt
Sir, an you us an idea ofbow ricr bnnlnlis pin&on in Gombe
SW" RU
I"annins
is
til
1Ctn'tty
tbd h. been upheld and iI 'i'fr( impor'Wll in the agriCUttwaI devdopment uGombe &ate. We ~ rwomlfOl"dams around ",,1tere wproduction_ iI pngcn And in foa.undo<"" __ '" "" F<d=J G<MmmmI in cdIabonuoa Wdh the: shU p-cmrncnt, _ arc apazxin@;
tlx ung;.ltd m:u. and _ Do .."".,., """","' "" production
m ncr &Ions our I'lYCI'Sidcs. ooL
""*'"
dams whm ove-flows lhml. The raaduaI ~ dYI remamcd bdund is used by our Wmm 10 pImt aloe cA rn.. So, nee f.armins; Is an importan! pan dour
.,.xuJtunJ """"""'"' Your production Ie\'d has
not
oj rice
been pronounc:uI. what
is the ment of ria production in
"" ......
havt- been dong In Gombe Sble. production has not becn ~than Since _
ria &mung
bcn«cn 0.9 to mwrnum «1.5 tons per hectare. Now, with rracnt ~ _""'allIlOpusb tht pnx>.oa;on 10 ",,-dung 3 10 4 or nom 510nl per bectan.. 11us is dwe programme we ~ punuiJlI not JUSl IO increase the- area under cultrvmon. but alm 10 double and
w """=
""'" production "" """" bein"" the flood obdructcd U5. To ~ilal ak'lll has the mccnl flood 8CJ'OU the aJUJltry afieaN &n:nb.nds in Gombe State!' In moll of our aJt':U by thr m'a"Sldcs puticuIarly in 3 or 4 local govcnunents like y~
o.ba. ......... Fun.b"" Dukku and many Olhm. most ofthe &rms around tht rWmldes haw hem I1ooded. Moan) of our &rrnen IoiI:
Flood obstructed triple rice production in Gombe Dahiru Buba Biri is the Commissioner of Agriculture, Gombe State. He said the state has perfected plans for triple rice production before the recent flood washed away farmlands in the state. Excerpts: How many bectara of rannbnd waT .ffcacd by flood in GombeSb.td We arc 5liI.I coununs our losses.. We ~ (M':t 12,1Xl) h«un:s cL
~ ","bat otbc:r pbn docs Gorube State ~'Cf1U1lCDt ba,~ to alby the fe:an of farmen against
5UCb acawtrophtncn ~
""""""'-
You cannot
Ilow las the: GES progn.mme
And "" """""" "'" ...,. pb<r, the f«It:raI GO\'C'tunm! does not
Miruwy "" "'" Mirustry '" ol ~ ~ \\'c sat down and de\isIed ~ and means
'" qWddy _tifying "" r.nn.n and gnmg them krtilizcn. We also came back to tbe cdIular cunparucs 10 prtJ\'Idr us With enough scntch cank which they dXi. And it ""'311 tuCCeSdul ~"_whobougJu ftttilazttsand setds 10 kftpb-nat "",.
Wlw programme docs the 5tak ~mcnt Mt."C U the )'OUlhs; 10 pt the-)'OUlh lm'OhwI In ,"""","'"
\\'~ha\o1t'alolcL~iOr"
"",.....,.. Apon from "" """"'8
gmng
In \-an0u5
10
tht
areas.
~
on
have the capacily'lo slop IL
Howtver, IlhasW~lDbnns pall.a.iw- mcasum and ~
the cdkJbr comparucs. the Federal
)'OOth gencn1ly ~ luw: Ihree
annat
phencwnenoh. '100 cannot SlOp 11.
GfS programme ~ been YCJY ~ From "" bqpnnlng. it """" =y, =y poody. """'" wm: not respooding. The GSM ",,;as not working very wdl So, we m down VI'rth the sukdddcn.
~ Is
say theft
bt flood because tha IS a natu.J2l
Men in the stale!
tht
e>~hlru BublBlri
agriCuhw'c.. "~ ~ tht
POWU}
put cL agriculn.Itt whim "''r h....-e actr\"DCd our pouhry production UJUIUl whidI ~ ~ now uhnga IIUlf1bcr" d)OUlhs. IBlnmg !hem and gMng !hem capital 10 start
busmcslon lhorO\\o't\. \~ abo ~ a prosrmunr In ",1uch ~ an prig to tnp# our """'" in ~ GoYmunmt ... ......,......, ....... "...-.d<d mmt)' in tht 1013 budgd so Ihod ~ ""ill irM)h-e our )'OUlhs In 1tauUng. apx:rty bwJWng. provision d inputs and pnl\'WOn ofand fty them to 0\I\'tl thor f.ums
rnc:asura; Now ~ hzve three c:attgDriclofafkttd ~ \\'~h3ve areas that ~ flooded and a! the end d the 6ood. "'''a!er ",;0 JU5I dry up and the peopk will hon~ their crops 1oR. and they I'M)' J10I hon'r even Iht opportunity to inigatc.. ~ nted as5ISUna" In tttms of bod lberc arc areas where the flood afti:cttd the aop. the ",'alcr
... dnod up. but """ hoY< good
undcrg:round "'''UCI" that ~ can now pn:Mdc borehole and pumP'
IttThe ""'"thud .. doasp«t '"""""" """""" arc ~ that an around the rMr basms.. around the- nwr veH and around the dmls that tv\'r been Ooodcd. NO\I\.
with the "'''Oller" drltYomg back. the ~ motsn.tR from the dr.rw back "'':iltt, lht pt'OpIt ~ pIanlIng. And they ""ill oon~ 10 planL And the,. an ~C\'CI1 ~crops.
Professor Buba Ibrahim Ahmed is t he first and the only Professor of Agricultural EntomoJogy with the AbubakarTafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. In this interview with Daily Trust, he explained how his research led to the discovery of insects that destroy pla nts, among many others. Excerpts; crops as it occun In very \atp' 10 million s;pccies. From Ahmed Mohammed. Yo u rcantly diJCO"ued an iMCCt pat which was previouly not known in Nigeria: Can you s;hed more lighl on lM diJCO"1Cr)'! Yo. the 1US«t ~ dlSCovcrcd IS a kJ mUICr and is; sdentiftcally known III Liriomyza sam"M' Blanchard (Oipcera:
num bers and att ack plan ts by feeding between tM uppn and kM'cr'cpldemia ohhc 19\"CI. It m:aku numerous; holes ruultmg in the )"dlo'oo'lng. drytng and nomttW f;alling off oflnves" The ruultant dcslrUCtlon ofla\"cs by the ins«tl reduces nOI onl,. the photosynthetic actIVll y of the Invu. bUI also weaktn and n'nJ destroy the young and maturing
W~ disco\-erN the IIlscct in collaboration WIth my r~ partn~rs from lhe Uru~lty of Waks., Untied KIngdom, somdune Ln 1991 during a field tnp to Tildm Fulanl \iIlagc in Tom Loc.aI Government Am. of Sauch. State dunng the course of my PhD research. Myself andou r
Agrom}'Zida~)"
pUn...
m 1997 dllco\~rN the prcsenc~ of 11 new IlU«t put wttic:b was
Bauchl
UUttI
feed
How cUd you c:om~ about the: i.ns«t and wh~rc did J'OU flOd it
bttwem the upper and Iowu ~uollcava.. ThisQUICS
yellowing and drying of leava: wh ich ultimatdy aff«t the photosymhdic activity of the lcaws and can subsequently lead .. th<~'"th< pbnt.
1M ""'-nd .-. UriomyD _ IIIudw,I alias Snpmtlna ftf miner. was
Lucy Ishaiku, Commissioner for Agriculture, Adamawa State said farmers cannot mobilize back to their farms immediately because the fa rms are overta ken by sand,
ond b<com< prof""""" fumm. Aput from tht Fedc:r.aJ Govcr:nmml" flood r~Bc:f'
m.;,,,,,,,,,
How ATBU discovers insect that destroy plants in Nigeria
Tht
Weare helping affected farmers in Adamawa
iaNi~f 'T"M ~ntomologisu
untU its; diJcovuy unknown in Nigerian agricuhunl hlilory. despik ill enormous notoriny on food crops such as potato, tor1Wo, okn and pcppc:r. The lDa«t b dnutatlaa \0 our
~
thai there arc 0V'cr II million iruKt s;pedes in our KOS)'St~m
out of which OM million Mw ..... ~ldmtifo<d. ....
lhcy are wortinc ~ tIw dod< IOId<ntify th< ..........
DOW
UK r~arch panMB. Dr. John Decmmgand Or. HauanDawah,
previouUy not ~'n in Nisma. The Authorities in my univa5iry. Abubakar Tarawa Balewa UniftJ"s;ily. Bauchi. provided funds for the aucrasful
a>ndUCI '" th< ..........,.
$U.I""W!'J wIUcb Sed to the- dtsco¥n-y of the harmhd inK'Ct ill TMm
...........
I
Whal do you think of thil Hood food rccoveryplan! It has modaJJUcs that will hdp flood victlIlU in ,'Ulotu IUlts, man csp«WJy m)"sUte. Even b~:fort that. our gG''ttnOr had rmdcrN asslStance 10 th~ affected farmers.. He prD\,ded food items whKh IS 1M Immediate neW of Ihe food \'lCt.Ims.
Whal
",ill
~'anment"
to
th~ peopl~
the
F~deraI
pacb~
do affected by the
flood! Tb~ Fcdcn.l Gcn-emmmt"s package IS a good a~nda; you kilO\<> th~ presidenl is; trying He IS ''ttY ~ about the problem. E,-rn the gr.uru thq" Ire taLntt from the 51los to th~ s;ta!t"!. ","ill hdp the people. On~ of the ISSues nacd m thiS mcctJng IS lhal "'... art allowmg th~ flood w.at~r to gn away "" thout h~mcssing il for Imgauon So, theruhould be a plan to ~ ha.messiag flood ""atn in the (utuu. 11 Adam1lW1l Sll.l~ thinldngalon& th.t direction! Ofcourse, ourgovunmenllS Irying 10dosomtthmg about it E'"~n our fann~rI Will not find It euy 10 go Ncit to t he now because the area is; and)". It nftCh somnhing to be daM..
I