Nasarawa, leading producer of cassava nl)N ~ Tribun ll!' Agdculture rom many atakdlokl· en 111. cassava producUon. rnarkcUngux proceMtng
Ila c It that NasanIwa, a I talc In the
sector.
Northern part )(U.e couo-
try. has ovenaken many other MaleS of the fedoera · uon to the mass or com· I1lCI'Oal prodUCUon of casAn. II majOl" mot lubcf" in N~ whk:h 1:5 a180 ~. gankd as II crop that can be UKd LO Increuc for-
c.1gn eJlchange earntng rOC" the counuy Conftnnt:d rr:port also has It that the: scr1ou$oeM and oommUment ol the Nasarawa Stale: p ernrnenl 10 the: pnctlce of farming eam«1 the atate this envtabk post-
lion among other stales 01 the rederauon. Some agncuJlurai cxperU who commented aboul the good IlCYo'$ attrlbuled Nasarawa Stale's succ~s 10 the willingness and readlnCA of (annen In the stale to adopt and put into pncUcc omdem n:.KarCh outputs, as wdJ as the commitment of the StaLe p~t to the da'dopment 01 a,grt-
cultun In Ute state.. Some cassava produelion apcns. h(I'Vo"n'a". described the ~ over of Nasal'll"" as the number one canava producing atale: In the country as II major challenge to other stales. c:spedaIly stales In the South and East.. that used to boast as champ6onsln CMMYa pnxtucUan and prnttMtng. The c:xpcns and stakehoIdcnwhobdongtothis school of thought also lauded Ule relentless d fOrta of the country's cassava n::eean::hcrs and ~ search tnsUtutcs llIle the: IntcrnauonaJ ImUlute of TroJ*:aI Afp1cuJture UTTA). as wdI as otiM:!'" reI!ICIll'Ch InsUtutes In the counuy
to making sure that they lncnued the num~ 0( cu..... farmen In the c:ounuy. just as they cdcbrated the news wllh fanners a550daUOOS like
the Nigeria Cassava Growen AModaLlon (NCGAl. 1be expertS have. how·
eY«. called on the 111.maten at Ihe NaUonal A!8cmbIy In Ahuja to conskkf" and give speedy deIJbenlUOn and heartng to thepreskk:nlJalblDoicompulIIorytnclUSk:lnoilOper cent cassava flour in the productJon or bread and other Oour-based foods by PreSident Goodluck Jonathan recently Some agr1c::ulturt: uperU tVho spoke .1th TW, bune Agriculture. have
also told those NIg'ef"Ians who ~ that mus or cornmcrdal prvducUon 0( cassava B pttUliar to the Southern pari of the c:ounlly. tobtgin IOchaJ. their pcrttpUon and beIIevt alIaStng that what some states In the North an: now dotng in the ami of mass production of ~ IIflIrultural produce
caJlsJOrcotlll1'lCfldaUon.as weD as fOod for thoughlfor" farmel'3 In the Southern part of the counuy TIley abo pnlsed the dbts 01 cassava rarmera in Nasuawa Slate for putung In lhdr best at maktog sun: that NIger1a does not loose Its poslUon asLhe number one cassawproduccrln UJC...u1d
Cassava bread is good for diabetics
P
RESIDENT of the Nutrltlod SodeIy 01 Ntgma, Professor
Ignauus Onlmawo, has debunked the: nunour that caM<lV8 floor .. not good,
aaylng ensava-baaed (ood~ are healthier (or people wltll diabetes. IllOI'C than aome roods. The nutrlonJst made Ul.la I:nown In an Interview with the Newa Agency of Ntgrrta INANJ recenlly In LagoI;, aCassava has become not. just a food aecurtly crop. It's now becoming a nulrlU0u5 aecurtly crop. bea~ of the: fact that.
-NSN President
ra:enUy, we haY't the yellow caseava that ollnatns better carotene. whk:h Is vantage 01 tbaL· precuraon (or Vitamin A. ' The proI"es8or saki the Just Imagine what prevalence: rate of dlabewW happen If sud1 yclJow" tea In the: counllJ was at cassava Is made into Oour IeaAt 10 per cc:nL adding and the Dour 15 rnl.ad wtth that though there had .txat Dour and JOU use k bcco an 1ncrea5C perto pn:xfuor: breed. a lot 01 ally bcc:au~ of Ilfcstyle th!ngB an coming In. modes and dietary habUs.
aso,
"You art: gotng to eat bread that wtIl now contain prtt\l.!KK" (or V1tamJn A and that SIlIlle brad w1lI
Iowft" the: rbk of dlabd.ea.. kJower the risk 01 racUon to gluten,
TheR
are all
pluses for such mlxt.UI"C and I want us to take ad-
Ule condlttGn had not been Unked With C8.5SaYll conawnpUon. He dtllClo8ed that Ule GIycc:mK: Inda ,GI) round In foods should determine the ~ offood a d1abctJc a.houId take.
'Glycemic Indu IGII
PAN ants international standard for day old chicks, hatchable eggs l£ l'ou trY Aseoda
11
bon
1.1 r k,erIa(PAN),
the umbrella body 01 all pouIlI) rallllt'B in NIgeria. has nrg -d counLr1cs In West Alrt"... to set tn·
ternatlonal ~ ' alldard for the quail ', I r da y -old chic ks and hatc hable eggs beln~ prc>duccd In the sub rt"tpon ~n as It called lndh1d'lal countr1e5 to ensu"~ thai t.hc.rt" 15 adequate amtroi of U,e quality of heldlable that Is mGvln&:: around the sul).."::g,on The aC11l If naUona' Gc:nen.I ~tary 01 PAN, Engineer JO'1I1 OlaLeru who dlsc!o,eoJ thla In Lagos rttmdy al a twoday rt"gJouaJ \.'Orkshop on natchery c.' rtiOcaliGn Standards r')r West organised by P'\N In coItaboraUon WIt h AgrI-bualness and Tr Ic.e Promotion. a USAJI, II1ltlaUY't "If~puto U-OVollfarm-
us Ulldcf" cOhtl-ol and ~
cannot control what Is eooung Into )I... nM.mtry. then at the end. we ha~
a problcm . $0 the
OIlld
now 15 on the LndIYlduaI country to do the rtght thing by maktng sure that UJefC .. an adc:quall:"'COI1 trol on the mow-ment of hatchable eggs PAN Is Uke the big brother. we ,,-ant to be ~ure that we ('all bI! u.dtng ca5Ily
tegratcd buslnc:aa wtlCrt: we wlIl be dotn&! bus1ne5.s In other West African countries as If we aJ"C In NlgeN just like the 0bJective of ECOWAS", he further stated. Speaking rur-ther . OLatc.ru posited thai this Ute bonIc.n and thts • the has been done In East AItugt"l and the objocuw: we. I1ca where day ·okt chiCk ~ aD WQI1dng t.owarda. So and eggs are movln~ far. cadI oountry 15 having aCfOM their borden aod auditor and Ntgc.rta has U,e South ~t of Mrtca lWO ab6e and qualified men and It wurking In lhHe tha I an: rept"C5ClltJng us: places. So If It is working Ihey art: upc.rtcnccd In to lhose places. tJ"lCfe is Ihls Industry", he ell:- no n:uon ...hy It ahoukl nol workln West Afr1ca" According tu htm. all The rt:pl'CSCntaUve or the audlto,.. from UleR USAIO , Mra . Suzanne countries have been to- Ngo- Eyok, aala-slnce getJ1Cf since 2006 WXIc.I"- 2000, theo.ganlSaUon has gotng training on 5c.ttJng been working v.1Ul hatchstandards In LhJs tndUSlt)' ertea, laboratory ~ and at the moment. they and -mer1naJy IICn'tcc:a In ha\'C gone a kJng way and eight Wcst African counU1C)' arr now ready to start tries of Senegal , Mall, canytng out the audlUng Burldna Paso. ThgD. BenIn.. job on countly by counlly Ntgena and Cote d" IYOIn: In 0I1:Icr" to Rnd the aotu~lC futurt: of poultry uon to rqpona.I trade. a 5lnc.c the avtan tnlluIndustry In Nigena and West MI1Ca at a .mole l5 eru:a outbreak In 'lD07, tythat ~ wtU have an In f:rI country baa put up a
aIoI.
.....
measu~ to preycnt d spread 01 the dIs~ . Now thai a~ In-
proc.ectJonl5t
ftuc:nza has dl5appc.arcd bl
most 0( thHe countries. lhose: restrictions IlI"C still In place and the argu~1t used Is bDlaIcty. that Is.
there Is nothing that can tdl us tJUlt tJJC outb'Cak cannot come bKk. So becaux ,,"'C an: "'Oridng 00 trade. that Is why our proJcct Is aimed al ad" dressing U.e lMue among the uperators-. she explain<d
Ngo-Eyok further cxpla1ncd that in lOlO, we
have. all the: laboratory scrvk:ea working together and all UlC YCtertnary aervices working together We brought them a ltugether wtth kC)' operators In order to ac.e whal we coukI do. The opcntora, the laboratory aervices and the vc.te.rtnary scrvicc:8 In UtHe countr1es have cume together to design a dlarter whk:h ls a sarutary CXJde clconduct lOr hatchery ope:ntUOn and we have two aucHtem ln
eaeh countrlea to do physical In~pccUons In order ac.c. how tJle key ope.ratGrs Gbey Slandard practice jusl 10 reopen trust among the opcntoB. 11K abecncc: of standard pnctlce and ml~ · tru~t amGng the operators has hampered trade among the West African countries. For Instan~ , bl Benln Republk:. people will prefer getllng their day old chick or egg (or hatchery rrom Belgium, Netherland ur Brazil nlhu than gc:tun,g them from Ntgc.rta or Ghana or Ghanaians seiling to Togolese This Is why USAIO haa sponaored thla Initiative to break down this ba.n1er So far, there haa bee:n some Improvement because now, Togo ls 1cga.Ily ImporUng day-old chicks (rom Ghana. What we want to see In the future la a s ltuaOOn In whlit, Benin Republic or any other counlr1c.:l In West Africa woukl be abie to buy &om NJe=I1L" ahc. moduded.
lalks about the ability for
a partk:U.Iar food to
ra1K
blood gJUc:05C" Immedialc.iy
and within one hour uf eonsumpUOtl. ~Y1I Dour or cas..a -based food~ have been measured In thts rf:Spcct and they rail 1Je. tw.:en tJ)C GIJC'CfJlk: lndex IGI)ol46 and 60.46 15 low and 60 15 medium. Onlmawo ....d mIXIng C85N.va flour with wheal Dour, whkh had a high GI of men than 70 per cent. was highly advantageous to a diabeuc.. lie said: "Let us say, assuming the cassafa flour we. an talktng about has a GI 0146 and you mIX It with that cl whal ftouc p
U..I has ·m cl 70. by the Umc. we take the average. It goes down. "It la natural. It Is
purely adenUfic. But. In 0115 case, you are roll:log a )owe:r GT roods with a hJgher one. In whJch caae you will brtng down the GI wbkh la better for a dlalkUc than If they lake a whOle wheat nour bread which la normally 70 to 72." OnlmawG aald lbat people. wtth type 2 diabetICS did not need Insulin In~.butn~to
amount O(GllD the Iypes of food they ale. He sai d that food~ With low GI would help rclease the glucoee on a gradua' level InlO the blood atream. Ife advfsed d iabetics to eat food~ such as legumes. n u ta, frul~ a nd vegetables, whiCh have low Glycemic Index know" the
101).
i