Farmers seek support from Gov Ajimobi utilisation o\'ercome. rusocialion has " More pcople, espcdally romlmjnc.led the f-ed- of the 'cassava fOf maxiera! rvlinistry bf Agrirulture m um benefit to cassava jobless graduates. pensionand Rum1 Dt1relopmenl on farmers and Ule na tion in ers and business men and women, whn have interest the three-month ultimatum gener.tl. Ogu nsade observed in commercial farming wUl to fJourmiUeri bl mmml'nc~ the 10 per cent cassava fJour with satisfaction. that the . prefer investing in growing ultimatum. ordered by the cassava. Some interested indusion polk)'. The Sc-utI11.wesl Zonal ' M inister of Ag ri culture members of the public h"ve O,airma!! 0 t flC associa- and Rural Development, been coming to confirm UlC tion. Dr David Ogunsade, Dr Akinwunti Adesina, news. asking how they can gave the co\nrncndntio n ca me at the time w hen ilcrJuite land for cassava culwhile spca kl n ~ with the hundreds of ;abless youths tivaIlOI\ " Ogunsadestated, He also expressed opUNews Agency of Nigeria were showing Interest in ntism tha t cassava produc(NAN) .receri tl 'f at lmesi- , cultivating cassava. He added tha t the pro- tion would soon boost the Ill', in Obokun Local GovemmentArea of QnmsL1te. nouncement on the substi- nation's economy and beNAN ~Is that the as- lotion of cassava nour. had come a leading player on sodalion had ear/ier ap- o nce aga in proved that the inlemational market. Goodlu ck The cha irman, howpealed to the ":deral Cov- Presi dent ernment and the NationaJ Jonathan was really deter- ever, allayed the fears th.,t Assembly to ill1l ,lelnenl and mined to revitalise the ag- the 10 per cent substitution of cassava fl our for wheat give legal b,-d.ii Ig to the 10 ricultural sector. '1 f the policy becomes fl o u r, wo u ld redu ce the per cent o.:assa''';l flour incluand cassion poligr, initiated by the law and aUbakers abide by s upp ly of IOlme:r President OIusegun it, p05t-harvest losses, cur· sava nour (1.1afulI) for doObasanjo u nde~ the Presi- ren U), facing our members. mestic use, thereby leading d ue to non-availability of tu price hike dentiallo.il.iath·~ 'JO Cassava.
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ome farme rs have di sclosed th<lt the A u g u s t 26 flood disasters in Ibadan, Oyo State, which ravaged the anci en t city and des troyed many propcrties il n d lives also h ave a toll errecl on milny farms crop and livestock, Informa tion given to he Apoi~ commuTribune A8riOll/ure by n" )' 'n I;,bu· lgbo. m any farmer s in Ow In St; te, 11115 apIbadan has it that the pealed to lhe shte governfl ood was h ed a w"y ment to re\-er.;(' Ihe 3O-YCM many c ro p s ilnd li\' e C'OIln"SSion of its fa ml setll~ animills like sheep, ment to prl\'ate i'1\·estors by goats, cattl es, rabb its, the inunt....:!iate r'ast admin-gu in e - p i g s , islmtiOIl. grasscu llers, duck fowl. The comm u 'lity, tit its as we ll as wreaked serio emergenc), 1"''Cting in ous h avoc on poult ry ijdru.lgbo, resolved th.,lthe farm s and feed mills. 3O-)'cil r (on(('S! iOIl o f thc Fo r exa mple, a fan n settlement was not in farm e r, Mr Ni ran the best interest , ,f the fannOgunsanya . tol d Triers i1J1d the coll1'1lunity. bun e ASricu/tu rc that The cha lrm'l n o f the his hecta res of cassa\'a comm uni ty, Mr Tajudecn fa rm a t O logu n(' r u in S.,lawu, expl<lil1'--d that Ule Ibadan was completely conces$ionoftlle Apojc faml destroyed by the flood settlement of al'Out B,IXXl disaste r. ~ I 1051 the cashectares. toprh"'e inVC5tor.;. sava (arm to the flood . I would sub;ect the commu've never see n or w it nit)' to poverty and h"rd- these properties a re f l!- on Ule fann and the entire nessed s uch a kin d o f ship. tu rned; Apoje farm setUe- community to slil\'cry on flood before in my life. Salawu expl.-tined that menl is among. The fl ood uproot ed their olVn land. the rommU1litv wanted ex" The Ijebu-Igbo CO nl Odeniyi, whileurginglhe g rowing cassava on m y pern. who are·indigmes. 10 munity has credible sons stil le government 10 allow (a nn and dest royed a ll manage tl~ fann settlement and daughters who are 6- an agrirultural expert from the m<lize I p lanted," he for the benefit O C the com- naneially credible w ilh lhclolYl'Ilo m<lnage thefanl\ I.. mented . munityand 'he entire state. a~;mnorny experience 10 ~ said this would provide emFo r Mrs Dose He explained that the activate Apo;e fann settle- ployment for jobless you ths Dad e m osi, she exfann settlement,. whim was ment. pla ined that her cass .. va in the ronununity. once tile pride cf the com" We are appealing tothc In his words, "we ilp- process in g ma chi n.e s mu nit y and th ~ state in gOYenunenltoallow our in- peal to govermnen t to help and a ll the cassava tu terms of its i\grio ,Itu.r.ll pro- digenous people to ha ndle us oul. We don' t want this bers brought by custo mductivi ty, was now in a the mamgement of ti le farm concession arr;lngem enl; ers for g rindin g and moribund sIiI t~ c ue to mis- for the development of the bu t ra the r, we wan t our p rocessing toother bymanagement by the inves- rommunityand the stare as sons a nd dau g hters to p roducts like £u fu and ""'a who[e,~ Salawu said. util ise the settlement for sarri we re swept away. HWe remernber the H er w o rd s, " I don't Also speaking. Dr O lu our benefit. prom ise of Governor Odeniyi. a prominent mem" If this happens, the re kno w th at ta in wate r l bikun le Amo!un,on the ber of the rommunity, said would be creation for and ( re ferring 10 the flood) collcessi(Y'l of sl<te proper- I thaI the-JO..year CFEcessi6ii:: farmers and Il'Ic'ro busi- can uproo t cassava lies by tllI~ forin£(,ad minis- , oflhe fannSett1erilClltw'Oulu- - nesses wl) uld s pring up.'~ cessing m"d, ;", ,, Imtlon tn make!11re that all which were he added,
-sam'
Reverse Apoje farm settlement concession
T
- Ogun govt told
s trongly fi xed to t h e g roulld. I d o n' t think thaI fl ood was o rdina ry. You need to see the level o f damage done to ou r fac to ry at O lun de in Ibadan . The fl ood destroyed all that we h.we ill th e fa ctory, " s he stnted . Som e jatroph a farmers a lso n a rra ted the ir experi ence to Tribune Asricuflure. According to Mr Ta).o Aki nrimi si; he wo unde red why the (load should dest roy his farm at Idi-Ayunre \'illase, " My fa rm is nol close to a ri ver bank, so I don' t expect to be a \' ictim . Out I was s hocked tha i the fl ood d est royed nil the g rowing jatropha plant as well as swept away all the j<ltrop ha seedli ngs in m y nurse ry farm," he st.l ted . Many pou lt ry farm ers liS well "5 o ther 11\'es lock farmers also got a touch of the fl ood disastcr. A man popu lnrly referred to as AHa Eleran, M r Mosh ood Ojubanire in Odo-Otla area, along Apata 1Oild. Ibadan, a well-known sheep a nd goats farmer is pres ently counting his toss. Wh en Tribune Agric u/tllre asked h im to comment o n his losses as a result of tile Aug ust 26. fl ood in the area, he sim pl y replied, "'OS;!, 0u 100 k n ow w h at lappened now . Wit h ~ ou t sa y ing mu ch. yo u shou ld lis te n to w h a t peo ple are say ing be· cause I lost noth ing less than SO 5h ee p s and
r,
to su pply to cus to m -
ers <It Saki town a dOli' aftcr the nood disas ter lappcned, so I brought some goa ts home , Bu t I was shocked that a rain we fell was normalturlll.'ti out to be a diMster. Ho nest ly, I Coin' , quanti fy my loss as I' m ye t to recove r from the trauma . Honestl y, I'm ye t to come to th e rea lisation of what happened." he lamented _ ~ I eanw hil e , many fa rme rs h" ve been appealing to the s tate government to extend the distribution of re li ef materials to them as well . They wanted the adm in is tration of Governor Abiola Ajimobiin Oyo Sta te to fas hion Ou l a programme o n how a ffected farmers in the state who s uffered great losses as a result of lhe nood would also gel 50me relief materials. A fatmer , IvIr Dolai; Adekeye, said , Hplease. le ll Governor Ajimobi to help farm e rs whu s uffered losses as a result o f the fl ood disaster on Aug u s t 26, 20 11. We los t many things and we need relid male ria ls as we i\. . Out s uch relief materials must be what we can usc to resuscitate o ll r fa rms and we also need assist;'I1l ce lhat wou ld get us back to our fa rms. Olherw ise, the re m ay be food crisis or h igh food p rices in Oyo State." A famer who claim ed to be A lh ai i Sherif Ogunwale also told TribUlle ASricu/lure 0 11 phone that, .. \ ' m a pou lIty and fish farmer . I losl al l m}' bird s 10 be fl ood a n d t h e fl ood also de:st royed my fish ponds. I want to tell you that some pou ltry farmers includ in g Zartech recorded great \ 055 likewise some ot her big p oult ry and fi sh farms in Ibadi'ln. "We are therefore appea ling to the O yo Stale govern m ent for help or as:sis ta nce. We a lso wan t people .of Ibadan to know and be prepared for high pri ces o f ch icke n, ram and fi sh, especiall y in the coming lie),;! a nd Christmas festival. This is because the fl ood d i:sastcr d e:stroyed man)' pou ltry ·and li vestock farms, so people o f Ibadan s houl d prepare for the lask ahead of payin g ext r" for til e prices of these agricu l~ he t u ra l