DAILY TRUST, 26 OCTOBER, 2011

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CHRONICLE A

For comments: write asochJonicle@dililytrust.comorSMS08033493462

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Wedn esday, Octobe r 26, 201 1 ....

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Vo l. 1 No.7

~orei,gn agricultural

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r ··. . . <vo ",dl,",i wllh Ideas on how /0 turn wut t.s to wealth are yet 10

med wi!h official s of the

;:cr Agricultural Secrdarlator I

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lIolinislry of Agrtculturr. seve r.tl .ftef sendin g propon.b on how

they can turn life around for smalltime famers through tlll~ ir lalest Inventions.

As ho k and Alvesh Bhnrwa ni, father

and son respectively. said their inventions will stop trec cutting as drunls can be used to prod uce charcoal (rom (orestl agm wastes.

The Indians have also Inw:nled a

mechanism to produce rich fertilizers IIlld &!-"-nerah: ene rgy that can be use for electricity as well as gas. .

Ashok ca l1 ~d on federal.. state. local government councils a.s well as individu als to grab the oppOrll1nlty as It wlll cost between N2S0,OOO to NSOO,OOO to turn the lives of smaJltlllll: fanners and rural

dwellers arou nd.

Accordi ng to them, the technology U5es no eh:ct.rlcily or mtthanicallnstru menls and can be operalC"d by the village folks, even t.hose without [ormal educalion . ~With the support of the Nigeria (()fIfirwttiDfl PQge V

DAILY TRUST

VI

Wednesd ay, October 26,2011

NEWS

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Isurprised ifther . wO'uld.be an exodus of peo; I pie fronfcities . l to villages, in· . :order to get into ' this business of charcoal produc. tion,, as.the'inI vestment is just ,N60,OOO against Ian income of 1;8 tmilli~n n~ira per . annum .

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Continued from page l Governm.:n l, It Is pO$sibl c (h,U in th e: yean to come, Ihere: wou ld b e: millions

of people processing charcoal t hro ugh Drum Meth od , creat ing huge e mp loymc:n! o pportun ities and income for the: villagers thro ughout Nige ri a, wldeh could eliminate some o f the unemployme nt problellls facing Nigerian s today. In (act, we wou ld not be 5uI"prisC'd If th r::re wo uld be: an aodus of peo ple fro m cities 10 villas!:s, in orde r 10 ge t inlo Ihis business o f charcoa l produdl on, as th e inves tm ent is just N60,OOOagainst an inco me o f 1.8 million naira per 3nmlm," Mr A.s hok explai n ed.

TIley said the: charc()al m ade, after it is used fo r cooki ng. th e ash turn inlo pesti· cide/organ ic fe:rtiliur. which co ul d again be pu t to tile soil 10 enrich h, ad d ing th at the fores t waste is continuo usly recycle:d aga in and again . .

Ashok abo uplaine:d tha t Ihey have J~veloped a unique Biogas iyste:m using high ly UV lIe:aled Diodigestor ,,,h ich .:mi ts b iogas that can be used for coo kin g and organic fcrliltzer fo r farm land culti· va tion . Matert a ls used 10 feed th e Biodi · ges to r are cow dung, orga nic was te, cas·

1 sa"a wal er and ab atto ir waste.

The agricu lturill scientisl said co w dun g has hi gh levels o f methane, whi ch ,.. _.releasw inlo th e atm osphere and l _~ Ihe UV rays from leaving th e atmosphere, thus increaSing Ihe temp era ture -o f Ihe planet. "W h en cow dung is pul 11110 biogas di ges to rs, It Goes th rough an anaerobic p rocess where bacteria are formed and sIa n fermenti ng.

This helps th e mcth ane to bre;l. k i\1"ay a nd thtls 5CP il rates the me than e from th e dung. The met ha ne is used as gas for cooking or ca n be used to generale li ght. Bigge r digesle rs ca n co n vo!rt Ihe gas inlO electrici ly thro ugh th e un ofblogas eogines.

- The bl-jlrodu ct is pure o rganic ferlililer that is in liquid form and free: of m ecluane and other ha r mful eleme ntS 10 Ihe so il. It is rich in n itrogen , phospho rus. po tassi um and mi cro nut rienu like calcium, z.iI)C , manganese.

It enab les th e cro ps to grow bener as well Ii irlcreases the: lo n geVity o f the ~oll .

In t he bargai n we saVt excess m ed lane fro m escap ing inlo th e atm osphere an d we ge l power and pure organiC ferl ilile r I nstead,~ he sialed.

He said the Organi C Ferlili zer \"he n ad:ltd to the soli increases the mi crobial activi ty, th ere is improvement in Soil

struct ure:, water !lcld ill B u padty. seed germin al ion and redu ctio n of soil ernsiun, add ing Ihal ll u.n be used Illite righl tim e for getting 100 % .:rop prolJuclion anJ \.r.Isugt w[J1 I e mu.:h less. MNo need to pu rchase chemi;:;!1fe rliliurJ, which art harm ful atl on!:c r run. The us c of orga ni C ferliti u r increas.s Ihe c ro p product io n thus reducing the prlee of veljelables a nd fr uits wh ich ult imately redu ces iooJ pnce in n atio n an d o::reOites food suu rlty within Nigcria~ tbe sdenlisls u plai ned.

O the r ad Van I Ol~t:S are Ihat the biogu produced ca n be used fo r coo ki n g_ Five hours of cooking can be done on t\\'O gas burnen ,,,hich b quile equ iva lent for a family o f four fl. r .hily u sage o f cookin g_ C alli e hcrd "u, wo uld also be able 10 empl oy thei r famil)" me mbe rs ofbclween fi ve and seven 111 Ihe I'fOlluction o f fertilizer, Ilu,reby cr !atio g ~ dr employmellt and generat io n o:; f incoroe for the f.llnll y.

The need to :re"rch for em ployme nt would seiu for Illo:;e who arc able to ge nerale enough Inc.:.rLle te ke.: p Ihe fanlll y IOgether, inS lud 01 go ing tn c iti e~ who.'ro.' employment is se lla. Ih>: y \Yilt lea ro how to be involved in Ihe project .