:eDAILY TRUsr
23 news report
W@dnesday,October 31 , 2012
AGRICULTURE
VOUf gUide to
successful farmirt .
t:::
rWhyCpi-~'t:;a;:; ~nhances
, i
tomato production
! By Gamba" Ahmed
bigger ones arc 100 sweet (or coolting,~ she said.
i Plateau Slalr pavUion al the
I recently concluded national agricultural ahibilJon wu onc of the ttnlra of attraction . partially MaUSC of the Jarga ~
than nonnal slu of tomatoes and pqlpe.r otherwise known as
i 'TanIsi' thai they exhibited. f However, a lady who simply
Identify hCr5Clr as Tabithll said she has brnI usmg the special breed of Plaleau tomatoes and j lattasi. Shesald the lomato brttd is not sour. but Oahy and good
i
1 roreating.
1
-rhe tomatoes do not have water but rather more : nesh. The lallas! is not huh. i One an eal it 1..5 you can eat the
! much
. tomatoes.. Rutl noticed thai both
; the special tomators and latlas! ! are betler ealen With salad : llu~ normal Nigerian specie is j beneT for Sl~ or soup because it retaim thc natural taste. The
i
• fingerlings imd Ju veniles
How I became a fish farmer in few minutes By Abdulwaslu Has san This year's National Agricultural Show held at the Nigerian National Agricultural Foundation wu beyond a mere reportorial assignment to thiS rcporttr as II opened his eyes to the mode of operation of some of those in the Ignc industry. One ofsuch was tht hatching proces.s of catflJih, -AU you nttd to halch the Cltfish's egg is just 10 pul a block of egg 5pra~ with $MUm on a net resting dirrctly on the Wolter in the pond," said I tall man. who appeared to bt' in his 20$, pointing at a piece of white tight net. He was al the sl:!ond occupied by the Zul-Nura]n fLShcry farm. "By the time you check back the next morning you will sec thousands of minute
fJ5hcs:' The Zul-Nurain poultry stand attracted sevcral people. some looking at the various stages
of the de\"dopment of alftsh; others were making enquiries nbout how 10 get fingerlings, Ylfish of several kinds were on display there. from the fly size atlish, the fingerling, the Intermediate to the big ones. which the starr of Zul-Nurain said WCR .. bout six months old. Bul his explanation of thr hatching process seemed 100 simple to be true. How do I gd the !pCnn and the egg, I enquired. He saId, "You gd the egg by tenderly squening it out of the mouth of a female catfish Ihat is between 6 to 8 months: old. and )"ou gel the spc<:rm by CUlling It out of the matured malr catfish." I ie ex plai n ed thaI Buch I ha tching v:ucisc can beget thousands of tiny catfishes. But how do T know the gender? He-: picked a fish and showed me a horizonllll opening below its belly. ~This isa female:' he-: said.. "'A male wi1l have-: a long vertical thing there:'
T asked hIm 10 grant me an interview. He said he was a mt're staff wilh the' fish farm. T could wait for his boss If I needed an interview. I waited. Later, a woman in aba)'fJ. addressed as Hajiya came. He said r could interview her H~Jiya asked him to mO\'t' the different age groups of catlish from the sun to the shade of the stand, As ht' was moving the buckt'15 and the basins lhat contained the fish. she noticed 11 small ill flJih and fed it to the biggcroncs.. T asked her for an interview. but she either didn't hear me or pretended she didn't. "'Where' is the flJihe-:nnan?asked a man that just came Into the stand " Ucre is the fiSherwoman,"'1hc answttcd him with a smile. TItc sllghUy embarrassed man saki b4e thought it was a man. As they started discussing business, Jwent ahead to other stands looking for other th ings ofintcrest.
l • Plateau tomatoes
But the offidal ohhe Platr:au State' Agncultunl Service Trammg centl'r manning the pavilion. Bcalria Jang. told our rt'pOrtcr that the special spcdc of tomatoes and tatlasl ~ imported by the Phtlcau Statl' ~rnmcnt from lsrad She said the tomatoes have enough water and flesh for good cooking. addmg. "This improved specie o( tomatoes does not have much ~ in it. That may be the reason it is not toosour like thC' 10000llipccie. We have already introduced it toour rarmer5 In Plateau State who have since commenced m355 rarming of the spccie "'The new imprm"Cd ~r«Ie has ga.ined acceptance by our fanners who saKJ It lS mort' productive and pmduccs mo re than the Nigeriall Iype of tomatoes and tall as!:'