15 ... "ulaA-rr......o- - - - - - - - - TU~!Y~.y.
2012============____________
-y
solicits support for poultry industry responIn of the
Wl1!' ruwlly
is not supposed to be in buslneu. rather. govemmentshoukhuppon and provkk an enabling
The veterlnartan caplalned that poultry Industry alone Is capable of absorbing 10 per cent of
Jobless yout hs
envtronment rOt" prtvate buslncs5 opentDl"!l and
In the
count.-y. provided lhe Fedcl'"8l Government Is ready to lnVCllI QI'"!lU............ the sector t"t··....
entrepreneu rs to aUTvlve 50 lh al morc Jo b opportunity would be creal«i for people who are jObk:aa•• he stated. He. howeYcr", caDcd on the govemment to g1Ye nttdcd and neccc:ssary support to the nauon'_ 8f91cuItureat M:CtOnL C8pedaDy lhe poullJy In,t._....
Aca:K'd1ng to hlm,- goy_
unment a lone: cannot provide employmenl 'or the large number of un· emp~yed YOU1M In the country, especially graduates roaming Nlgerian streets Govemment
"
..... HI. Nigeria
Cas-
sava Grower Maocla tJon (NCGA), through Its NaUonal Pn::sklcnt, Putor Segun AdewumI, has explained that tbeassoclaUon can Simply lum cauava of the peasant farmers to gon1 tha be aokI t CBIf
In
bags. satchelS 01 various sll-ea, store In silos or adl to the tntemaUonal _geodes as rood aid or export It to Nigerians abroad.
~ava that Is sold at N14.00D per ton -It
s hould be noted that. ton 0( gan1 requires four lOnnes of fresh CBMava and gon1 Is sold at NI20.DOO per ton, whereas. all cassava InpuUJ required. Ir bought at N 14,000 per ton 15 only N56,OOO, 1lUs can be accompUsbed Ir we build modem gam faclorles thai wW use tradJUOnal m ethods of producuon in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i:2~~~~~j"~-~'.~~~~~~~~~~ro~~~u~cUon )~~~~~_senatorlsl
H Y did yo u leal e Nigeria fo,. South AJ,-lea Ulhen ,IO U kneUl Hla.t N(~la Is giant qf .v,.lea? It IA true liaat Nigeria is gtant 0( Afri 'a as many people u:trd 10 say, but lhe giant In us b aUI! aleeplng to f. ~t the system tn Niger a Is fruatraUng many ptOple, espedally thOM who have
n.-.o
districts
W
i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;;;;
be unique w th apeclal taJenl5_ I think something Is actually wrong with been ordalncc to our system III by thbGod country and T believe like other Ntgc:nans woukl agru: with me thst our majOr bane of developmenl is leadership Many of those who had the opportunity of either ruling or leading thts grea, coun try have disappointed us. Honeslly, I don't want to diacuaa Nigeria because It 1$ al",,&>'s II haemorrhaglc upet1ence, so let us talk about W lat I Imow best, agrtculture which 15 what I'm aJ ..... I)'S exdled to dlscUs.s You are a shining . ~ar In South JVrlco ~o the ~knt that .fOu,. nome h OlJ become a ,-eference point in rheJleld qfagrleulture. What makes gau thlck In Kelco 1l Jlandela's countr)(? Well, I than.; God thai a st~ that was not appredated or let pecled In Nigeria he now become a comer atone In South-Africa My wurk • nJ research, as a plant breeder and vegetable/orr amental plant expert shot me to lime. light I'm wl,rklng on • type of farming called hydropholllca , which ls a modem technology of produclng vegetllbles without planUng tllem 10 50U Hydrophonlu technology showcasea that one can actuaJly produ"e vegetables like tomatoes, ~pper and other leaf, vegetables without actually makJng uM: or aoll \\ hilt I mean by thts technology is lhat people should know lhal vegetables and other ornamenlat pla.ILs can grow, survive and do weU wlthOUI maklng UiC or 5011, Ilyd rophonics technology has made us reallSfd thaI soills Just. medium rOt" plant support and wnhout SOil, some planta, espectaJly ~tablo ard frul15, I:an grow and sumve. Soil ts Important In a.gr1culture. but hydrophonk lechnology explaJnC'd ( 0) us that It ts not compulsory for veg~ etable p'odut (Ion ThIs ptact c.: ts wdI known In countr1es like Israel. we have now Introduced It into Soulh-Mr1ca ag_ r1cultural '\eCtor and It 18 accepted and appreciated. In ract. I car say that 85 per cent or vegetable, in South Mrlca marke Ul, Including supermarta, we:re produced by l)drophonlCS tec:hnok)gy. Hydrophonlc productll are even better and bigger than Ihe CQll'otllUOnai method of planung ~tables As a Nigerian. don ' t JIOu think ~ n4glJ~h technot~JI In Iflgeri~ eapedallJl.1.0 boost ueg_
my quota to the development of my country II' the government IJO wtsh. a lso advtK sOlile and kx:al governments In Nigeria 10 adopt hydrophonlclll technology of vegetable producUon which 1 believe could be used not only to booet our .grtculture, but SI50 serve as job creaUOn initiative. So n 15 len for Nigerian government to act Hydrophunlc:5 technology, I bd~, would have the. input of agricultural engtnec:~ and tec:hnokIgl5U1, eapc:ctaIIy agricuUural 10Gb and equipment rabrtcators_ BCI'UIlDOuld you describe agric:u1ture C'Oglneft'S In NI~rio. especially (h elt- ,-olea and contrfbudona touIa.rcb ochr-lngfood .RCUrity and ",--entLng JMMt -hOl'VeSt _tages? Well. Nigeria agr1cultural englneerw arc good, whUe some are br1lliAnt and fantasUe when you engage them In lntellectual dtacuMlon But I won't be alncere With mySelf If I said they don', have some challengea mllitallng against their performance and contr1bu tlons to the natkJn's agricultural .,,,,,,'o,,m,on' For Instantt, we probably need to uk some our agt1culture engineers that how many of them know- what Is called a combined-harvester, especially the graduales or loday? Many graduates or agnculture engineering In Ntgena today have not even seen some neld mac hines or equipment before, even during their practical tra10tng In coUegea of agriculture. polytechntcs or unlvuslty TIley are brilliant, agreed, they are good, One, but how many modem farm equipment or tools have. they seen before Ot" laid their hands upon? Arc gau saying our agriculture C'Rgineft'S not exppaed? With respect 10 this prore.sskJn, because It Is my colUtltuency and wllh grcat respect to agrk:ulture engtneers who got quaUned In the 70s and 80s eapedally when Ntgerta was still Ntgerta. What I'm say· tng 15 that, how many of our modern dayagr1cullure mgtnetts know how to operate a tractOl? How of U"N!01 can fabrk:ate a hoe or cutlass, not 10 repairing modem agrtculturt lcola and ':'"~:':~~'h'j J - HondIUy. 8J!rkultUtrengflkmng r I respect ao much be<:ause of ItJI roles
Dr. Pa.tric:k AddIola tlon In achlevtng food security and preventing poI!It harvest wastagea In any country that 15 senous with agricultural development. But I tell you, Nlger1.'s case I.s very different Many or our agricultural engl nee.rs are too theoretical With Infinitesimal pracU+ cal exposure and nekl uperience. May God help our engineers, may God help Nigeria agricultural sector Arc you too pessimistic about pr'01lldlng .solu ' tiona ~o the problems oflflgerio. ~Iall!l those qffectfng our agrfcuJturaJ sector? No. no, no. II ts not about being pessimistic or being negauve· mtnded_ It Is about the ongotng level 01 rot, decay and corrupUon In the country, There are many Ntgertans helping other countries of the woOd to <kvdop their economy, but how many or them are ready tocomc home ~'hCf1 they know Utal the present system may kUl their potenl1als or dim their sian? Let Nigerian p-emment tackle COfTUpUon and you wtll see how Ntgertans In dtaspon would troop home. Let lhe system be conducive for devdopmcnt and you will !ICe the waking up ollhe glant In ~ Nigerian Uke I told you earlkr, agr1culture englneeB ahouk1 be allowed to occupy their r1ghtful position In lhe nat"'-s agrtculturai5Cdof", so that ~ can nnd a lasting aoIuUon to lhe problem or post-harwst wastages which Is lhrealenlng Our rood secut1ty campaign and pnlgraIl1me.. They should be exposed to practtcal5l1ke IlICfr counterparts In other parts of the woOd. f'0f' ex· ample, can you clo8e your eyes and tdl me the names or Just nve agriculture engineering workshops In NIgerta_ even elthtr In t.agos, Ibildan. Port-lIan:ourt Of' Kaduna? Can you almply tdl me the location of JU!lt four InlctGr"'rcpaIr1ngor hirtngwol1tshopa in Ntger1a loday? So you d18cuvcr that we have.. a Jot to do In Nigerla If we mU51 KhJevc ~tnesa-