NEWS TIOtSdo,. 31 .1<1",,2012
AGRICULTU RE
DAILY TRUST
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AbdlilWil!i u tussan, AbUi! &0 AdtwaleGi1r.J.Ahre
THE seV! 1l days ultimatum given by tbe Co<:oa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) 10 the Federal ,\1 i ni~try or Agr iculture to relea:;!: its NJ billion loans
proccn approved by Federal Government has been described as unnecessary. The: association in a communiqu~ signed by ils National Secretary, Mr. Adeola Adegoke and handed over to journalists in Akure. thrcalentd to sue the Ministry if il fails to
accede \0 their demand. Adegoke allq;ed that some gove rnment officials .from the Federal Ministry of Agrlcultu~ were planning to buy some 1 chemicals for them. which we re not parI of their requests before the money was approved and
wondered why the Ministryofficials are yel to use the mone}' to b~y.chemic:als ihat would be usc(ul for them. The statement alleged furth er that the Ministry had listed Chemicals Uk.e' Ridomil. Fun- .. gUr.lm and Champ' . ~or pur- . chase which are not good for th e nalion's system of"prl?ducing cocoa, adding, ~ We· will sue the Federal Ministry of Agriculture if il fails to buy ~me ·chemicals we an' demanding for: Some omciaIs in the Ministry are planning to buy us chemicals like rudomil, Funguram and Champ, which are not good for production of Cocoa. ·We were very happy when President Goodluck Jonathan announced on Democr.lcy Day that he had released th e sum of NJ billion {or the procurement of chemicals and fertilizers for cocoa farmers. Since then. we have nol been invited by Agro.Sellers on the type of chemicals they are going to purchase for us,the statement read in part. But a director with the Fed-
tral Department of Agriculture in Abuja uid a survey revealed Ihat only II percent of farmers, including cocoa farmers were getting the fertilizer b«ause businessmen go behind, collude wilhthccommissionersand offii\;ll~indsellthe fertilizerinbulk. • ·Sht;. said . fertilizer and other farrn!ng .implements proVided for farmers by the federal government developed hands and feet and moved across the borders over the years, which prevented farm ers from benefiting from the subSidy provided by governmen t, adding that since lhese things did not getto the poo r farmers, itled to agricultural productivi ty else· where outside Nigeria. ·Even the fertilizer weare talk· ing about, it is th e; big lime politicians who ue farmers that are getting the subSidy. At the lime we were rolling out the GES, one old woman came to the minister Ofstate and said: 'Alhajl, may God bless you. This Is the nrst lime I am getting two bags of fe rtilizer. What th ey used to give me is two measure offert ilizer.- he said.
. . "". ·areleases Vitamin A maize to improve nutrition . Program oftheCGlAR as part of
strategies to address the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency. Other col· labor.lting partners include the Institute (or Agricultural Research (tAR), Zaria; Univl:rsityofMaid· uguri; International Maize and Wheat Center (CIMMYT), Uni· ver.sl!y of Illinois, and UniversilY of"'!"lSCOnsin. 11 will be recaUed that Vitamin A deficiency affiicl.$ about 30 per· cent ofchildun below five )1:ars or age, almost 20 percent of pregnant
women, and 13 perc&lt of nurs· is the most frequently consumed lngmothers in Nigeria. VitaminA staple in Nigeria with about 20 deficiency lowers immunity and percent of households consuming impairs vision, which-can lead to it a.tdiffercnt times within a wedt. "These hybrids wiU provide blindness and e\-"en death. not only increased amounts of Researchers say the two hybrids can supply enhanced lev- pro-vitamin A but also improved elsofvitaminAio the diets. Maize . productivity in farming commu· is consumed by millio ns of pee" nities; he stated Fumers who participaled in pie throughout Nigeria, whether roasted and eaten off the cob o r the on-fann trials indicated that as a dish prepared from fermented th ey liked the varieties., so there Is a high prosp«t forquickadopmaize nOUT. According to Dr. Menkir, maize lion .
DTA and lAR& T, in partnership with private seed rompanies, now plans to multiply these hybrids so they can begin distributing them to fanners by 2014, and to continue to develup higher levels of viiamin A in maize by conventional breeding. · We plan to target Ul'3.S where maizca:lnsum ption is high lohelp address the problem of vitamin A deficiency in Nigeria" said "Dr. SamuelOlakojo, a maize breeder.