I
r::~:'~'~:~:. oj Dime)! Bankole. the ex-5peaker qJ the
Seye Adenlyl was with him in Abeokuta. the recenUy during an agricultural programme
IJ
~~:~::;::::~about the countT"JI can get to the level ~~:~;:~~~::i~'I~~: I the Federal Oouemment' s ~gricuUure
II
achieuingJood security. the co.ssauaflour in well as hOLD the youth can M encow-oged 10 .",b'-m~
<hlQ Alanl Bankole
be uery high. Are 1'Ou afarmer qf agricu.U5U1IlI? If you know- me very ..-e.II. you will know that I' m a lover of nalure. I apprcdate God through mere obflerv&llon ofthtngs around me. that Is my ftlvtronmcnL klkice from that. I'm. realist and a prnetlsIng f.rmer and thls I've been dolng.1nce dllklhood - uv.d "-. . a!ll""cu ~ II ure. - . Wha.! .. fIO"r Imp..--. Ion .... peciaUM lhe UIGJI' we pnu:dse It In Nigeria? Agricullure ahoukl be number one focus ofbller· 1::51 In Nigeria and should be seen as • prontable buslnC'.N .nd nol J~t • prncUC:e. F.rmlng III • good venlu~ lhal could empower ua the ~ as an indl· vkJu.1 .nd as a n.Uon. M.ny developed cconomlca of UM!: world treal agrictrltUI"f: as • premium .nd th.1 Is why counlrica like USA. Brilaln. China. J.pan. ISfllel. etc. are alwaya Ih(' counlr1es to look up to whc:n II comes 10 food production and uport. o r cour"X. you know that agnculture used Lo be our major source of Income In U,e 60's .nd 70' •. but we s hIfted our atten tion .way from fanning when we dl5covercd crude 011. a.....-.t You .nd I .Iso know thai our leaders dcw: ............. the South -Wesl regIOn of the country In the 70's from the Income ac:aued from agriculture. but It Is unfortunate that agnculture no longer attracts U,e aitenllon of our Ntgel1a.ns. but I'm h.ppy Uuu Ute Federal Governmcnl .. making encouraging moves to aClinte the Interest of our farmers and otbe:r NtgertallS In Ule cash and food crape. as well as cncouragtng the youths 10 embrace farmmg 80 th.t we can produce food In surplus.nd by doing thai !ncreaae UM!: rcvt:nue base of the n.tlon. Food production on a large and commen:tlll scale wtll .180 Increase our
export .eUvttks. as -.-ell as .11ow us to be rood sufnclen!. Do you th ink with our perception to farming . Nigeria con be food .ecured in the nearat fu · l ure?
We ClUI be rood aufficlenl If we continue to pay
&ood and reallsable commltmellt to agriculture as
Well. like I aald . If we don o, demll . tr we don ', stop what the prnent g<M!:rnmcnl has started. ea peelall,. the on-going agriculture fl!'VOluUOn In the country whk:h 15 ykldlng better and .pprma~e results_ lhen -.'t: should be food Ka.I~ In Ule next nyc: to len ~.rs n~n: aN! many Federal ~mmcnl agncultural prognlmmcs / proJccts IIkt the cusava rlour Inelu slon In bread making. CCX'OII rebirth project. collon rebirth programmes. elc. If ..... t Impl('menl them very well and th('re Is continuity of Ul~ programmes from on(' rqlmt 10 "noUler. then we would Ix movIng (asl on lilt path of food sulTklency To mt and like I used to lell people. achleYtng rood sec:urlly 15 possible with concertC'd tfforts. and non-achlevemenlls also po881blt Ifwt pay lip 8erv1~ 10 agrtcul IUIe Do you like ccusaPO bread and con you eat U? ILaughl. Wllal Is wrong with easssva bread_ What Is wrong wlUI cuaava flour being used to bake cake. mak(' puff·purr? Whal .. bad In using cusa.va nour to make doughnut? Don·t you like fiifu. don't you love a.maJa. d>a and roasted or- cooked m.la? Why should we be eattng more of foreign foods .t the . :d ;' "' ;;;m< ;;;n ; 1 ;o~r~ou ;;;;,~own ;.;;.;;.;I~n;d;'~Uo ;;;;"~.~II~_ ~~'.;;r..... ~:-?_":,,
GMO crops CruCI'a! torfood seeurI'ty - Expert 11
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.griculture ,on··,n"on.' p'.n, perl. Prole ••exor · 1m Dunwell . h •• ~I::!~U:I~':: advlMd 'annen to em arc orten not very .caJbrace geneucally modi rnle ned crops 10 boosl their According Dunwell. yields Ihe technique Is being lie g.a~ Ule adVice In done as part of an Interan Inte:rvlew with the nallonal coopcnlUon reNews ~ Q/ Nigeria March ."d that. crop (NAN, In Ibadan on tht like cowpea has been Sideline of the ongOing tested In Easl Arnea and llIoeclencca for F.rmlng pmve 10 be resistance Lo In Africa. 1B4 ..·A) IflIlnlng m.ny Insecta prog~mme for Journal · -It Is going 10 be 1m · ISI~.nw"'...~_ Is • _ _ ported to Gbana cerIJU W ' IV ,.. talnly very soon and It 80UtcC pI:r*IJ1.1 thC'tl1l1nshould be lesled In NI Ilig. Nid such crop varict gerta as well Benefil or Ic:s. also known as ColeU thlll type o( genellcally caDy ModIfkd Organisms modified cowpea III Ulat IGMOsI. had been dcvd f.rmers will be able to oped and tesled In aomr lrow malerlal without Afrlc.n countries wllh flaVin« to buy cxpcnsh-e similar cllm.llc eondl - In~S!IC}~~S them . the Uons _lIh NIgcrta f.rmers will h.ve.n The term GMOs la t.sler and .Iso a more conunonly used 10 refer pronlable crop because to crop plantlli erealed th
~c::!~= :~~.:";'~~c;::
cst molecula~ biology Icchnlque. These crop. have been modified In the l.bor.IO .... to enh.nee ·3 dc:strtd traits IliUCI!.S Inc~ased resistance to herbicIdes or Improved nu~~o~'~:,~~l!~~nl of
~; ba~I;':';:C~~ ~
scels.nd 11 reduces the yield of the crop. "A second good ex .mplt . • galn which Is .180 being tcaled as part or Inlernallon.1 co-opentlall Is matu: or com which Is more reslstanl to droughl II Is caJled ... 1 m,n"/um."'ny-
we .re preflently dohtg We need to commend the govcrnmenl for Ita delumlnattonand efforta to make Nigeria a IM'r1ous agriculture lIatlon. TIl(' effort hu startctl.nd I hope and pray we are able 10 maintain lhe tempo dl::5lrcd lntlU has tr&dl parts of northern Ntguta I Whe n do 1'0" think we con achleoefood MCU- tlonallybttn unde:rtaken and olher counlrlu In rlry:-carryoa'"JftakTCf]b"rHaJC1Jt p""'jefI liilo-t1'ir L:.'~ h~ ;;;;~S~h;.;";;.;.' "' ;d~'~n~R~.~b~u~t_ - I~r.F ~.~,, ~ "'~o~n~:.·. -.- _ -_ _.1
,.u".',-'m.g"."• •
'a~._ 1
support H . I
colllmerdallsalion of ag r.cultun: . I 1~ rcvolu 11011 In agnculturr sector If Il will guarantee food lIumc lency and trallslatc Inlo cheap a nd .rfordabk foods. M wdl as guarantee food 5ttU
"'Y I kJV'e the revoluUon
Of' lransfonnallon going on 111 ag.r1c:ullure and olher 5C'Ctors provkkd II won', make UII become slave to foreign products. polk}" or progn.mma I Will always support any agenda If II will create employment foc our youths and make lI~m seJr rel!ant and I beltevc thaI the ~r1cullure Tnmsfonna Uon Agenda 'ATAI or the Fcd('ra' ~menl would guaranttt self reliance for N~rtan youth.s espcdally those who vnll embra~ rarmlng What is your ad viccfor the you tlu:. especially 'hose who PnI! s alll coruld m ng going into agri. c ulture? 1l1l:~.n: Is 1m rear thai agnculture WOtlld tmpower Uu: youths If they pnlcllse comm('rdal (arming Ix. cause commercial running Is prontable. less cum bcrsollle und money spinning So I encourage Nlge rian youths 10 embra~ and prnctlac II Thue fs thls common slatemmt that the people of th e Norther-n part of the country pre the ones feeding au In the South. What b- your ta.keon th l6? I don'l know why soUle people often Ny Ulls . bul I believe Ulal each region or- 5CCUon of the counlrv has thelr.rea of strength and ..-akOCS8H We know what the North can do when It comes 10 farm~.nd we also know the crops we can produce In large quantity In the South However. I m~1 emphas1M: that thc:re Is no point denytng Ule fact UUIt the Nor-th Is man" MrIous w1th agrtculture .nd the f.rmelll there oflftl gel lliupporl rrom their governments unlike the South I .Iso ap-predale the fact thai the 'armt"B In the North produce many rood crape IIkt ccnt.-pca. mUlct. sorghum. gulnea-eorn as wella. pepper. Irolla a nd v.:gc:ta b'0C8
Honestly. they produ~ Ulc:se agneulturaJ produce In. ~ry large quantity for- Ute tesl of the COUIlIn' and we can say U.. t 10 ~rtaln tJrtetlt. we deprnd on U,elll for lhesc crops. Bul Ulat docs not me.n II .. t we cannol produce tht':SC' crope in the South as well The weaUler In Ule North faYOUIlI the production of some agricultural produ~. whlle Ule: weather or climate: In Ihe SoUUI also cncou~ge:a the produclion of some agriculture erope III cOfllOlcrclal (Iuan lily. To some people. they can say thai for now. the North feeds the resl of Ihe couiliry. but rm sure some people wm dlsagrtt wiUI Ihls .MC.rtion But no m.llcr what anybody say• . the truth l5 thai Ihe North Is............r In "dri.-ullure. while tht South Is also &........ -e--'~ nol. pushover In famllng HGWn'C.r. both Ule North and the SouUI need each other In every IlSIJCCt of life. especially In agricul lure because no man ls .11 lsland. You PnI! O«r" -..enfM JIeClI"S and . tUl ~C'rgC't ic and f rah. 1'Ou PnI! also afarmC'r. Ulha.t ls ifOu r
SftCf"I!: t ?
You can Stt U... t I love e.Ung fresh roods. I !aYe tradltJonal roods. I also love local dlsh~ In raet. I Io"e anything nalurnl So I CllC'OUragcd our youths 10 avoid allY foods that could m.r UW:lr healUI. es pcdally JUIIU If you don't .... nl to suffer hunger. Ir 'ft don"l ....nl to experience food emls In Nlgerta. then everybody musl prnctlsc farming. ('.Ven If 11 Is backy.rd fann Ing Just make sure th.1 as an IndlvkJua" you plant a crop. either vegC".'lable or .ny other U'lng In your compound Adr-tculture. I mean rannlng. should be .~ the prorCMlon of ('very Nigerian
fDid You Know That ...
Elephants have been known to -remain standing after they die. -