THEGUARD[AN,SundayDecemben8,20U
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BUSIIMESSAGRO
•Agric Tops Federal Govt's Transformation Priority K By Olukayode Oynleye
LLOW1NG the pronouncement of •esident Jonathan on Tuesday in Abuja n the adoption of cassava bread as choice food, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akin Adesina, lias informed that the 40 per cent Inclusion of cassava Dour in bread is not only a possibility, but is already a reality. The budget has disclosed policies to encourage high quality cassava flour to significantly replace wheat flourin confectioneries, i The minister has also disclosed that cassava, beyond being uselul for flour making, is now found to be a useful raw material for producing some brands of popuiar bever-
ages. From his analysis, Nigeria has so much to gain in terms ofimport substitution, job creation, value chains development and overall economy just as more income would be earned by stakeholders in the industry. Dr.Adesina observed the need to make adequate provision along the value chain to encourage production so as to avert the fear that industrial uptake might create scarcity of cassava for traditional use. He has hinted that his ministry was already considering Specific actions towards revitalising the rural countryside, as he lamented that the rural areas have long been abandoned. According to the minister, the various traditional rulers and leaders of thought in vari-
ous communities across the country would be involved in the sensitisation efforts of the ministry towards revamping the rural economies and encourage increased agricultural production. He urged all these community and traditional rulers to contribute positively in supporting the rural transformation aspect of the government's agenda. The minister's statement on Wednesday was a follow-up to President Jonathan's budget speech which stated that "the agricultural sector is being totally transformed to enable us move from traditional farming to modern agriculture as a business both for oursmall and large-scale farmers. Our objective is to ensure food security whilst also
promoting exports in agriculture value chains where we have a comparative advantage. We intend to process and add value to different crops such as rice, cassava, sorghum, oil palrn, cocoa, cotton, etc." This approach, President Jonathan observed, "is central to our transformation strategy. Accordingly, this administration has adopted enabling measures to support the development of private sector-driven marketing institutions, and push for policies that would promote our agriculture to create jobs." To unleash the potential of this sector, Jonathan added, "the Federal Ministry of Finance has put in place a mechanism to share risks with the banking sector by guaranteeing 70% of the principal of all loans made for supply of seeds and fertiliser by the private sector this season. In addition, to get the inputs to farmers at an affordable cost, we are subsidising the interest rate on these loans to bring it down from 15 per cent to seven percent perannum. The Minister of Agriculture and the Central Bank are collaborating to extend these services for credit availability for the medium term." THURTHER fiscal policy measures to supiHport the development of the agriculturX al sector, the president indicated, will include "the duty on machinery and certain specified equipment for the sector" and "will, effective January 31st 2012, attract zero duty. We will further look at supportive fiscal policies for the rice and wheat sectors to stimulate domestic production." "From July 1st 2012, wheat flour will attract a levy of 65 per cent to bring the effective duty to 100 per cent, while wheat grain will attract a 15 per cent levy which will oring the effective duty to 20 percent." Similarly, there will be a levy of 25 percent on brown rice to bring it to 30 per cent. In addition, to encourage domestic rice production, a levy of 40 per cent will be placed on imported polished rice leading to an effective duty rale of 50 per cent. Effective December 31st 2012, all rice millers should move towards domestic production and milling of rice, as the levy of 50 per cent will be further raised to 100 per cent." He was unequivocal that "no waivers or concessions will be entertained for rice and wheat importation."
_ Grains offer great pt>ier:(ia!$ for food security. Maize, in particular, occupies a central place considering its multiple areas of utility
Seed Scientists Raise Hope On Bumper Maize Harvest In Drought By Olukayode Oyeleye
•*-iARMERS cultivating maize under unpredictable weathiHer. particularly those in drier climates, have been A assured of varieties that will produce more and are better adaptable to such conditions, particularly in the SubSaharan Africa. The assurance came after successful field observations on their cultivation. This was the observation from a meeting of scientists drawn from various parts of Africa at Excellence Hotel, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos recently to examine opportunities open to maize farmers in ensuring that they are less prone to harsh weather and drought while their maize crops perform optimally, even in drought. The one-day meei ing, organised at the instance of the Ibadan-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (UTA), was specifically to discuss on the field findings on a project called drought tolerance maize for Africa (DTMA) and how it could contribute to food security. In the report of the study carried out on drought tolerant maize (DTM), Dr. Abdoulaye Tahirou, the team leader, observed that many countries in Africa face diverse problems on maize supply. There are a number of problems that complicate the outcomes of bad weather, poor harvest and maize supply shortage in Africa. According to Tahirou, maize import restriction is high incouitries under review, Nigeria inclusive. Others, he said, include constraints to wider dissemination of DTM seed companies; inefficient extension system in Nigeria, Ghana, Msli; seed problems, including adulteration among others. At the meeting, it was noted that the importance of drought is on the increase even as maize is gaining higher importance as a staple and industrial crop. Maize, it was observed, is increasingly used as industrial raw material, necessitating seed specialisation. But the need to enforce punishment on fake seeds was also raised as there were reports of seed adulteration by some of the participating countries. A point was, however, made that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were not under consideration in the study, but r.ither conventional seeds. Problems raised on one country at the meeting seemed to resonate in other;, essentially indicating that all the countries under study shared same experiences, although at varying degrees. Getting the DTM seeds to farmers may not be a smooth sail at the beginning of this campaign.it seemed, because of existing national laws on seeds. For instance, although Robert Agyeibi Asuboah from Ghana observed that, in his country', old seed laws are being changed, D". Wilfred Mwangi, DTMA coordinator for Africa, appeared a little sceptical on the ease and speed of changing old law;, to allow the official adoption of such
fraud cases were reported in participating countries of Benin, Nigeria and others. As oneofthe ways of taking the benefit to the grassroots, it was agreed that regional catalogues be created and that awareness was neededThe dearth of seed technologists and breeders in member states also was raised as a critical issue. It was suggested that something needed to be done to encourage people to go into these areas, including intellectual property rights rewards (such as royalties) to encourage breeders remain in the seeds business. It was also noted that certification for all classes of seeds in the sub-region has implication which oeeds to be considered.
improved (DTM) seeds in various countries. Although the representative of Mr. Sobowale, Director General of National Seeds Services (NSS). Disclosing that a {national seed council bill is awaiting presidential assent, Dr. Sam Afala of the HTA observed that, in Mali, the seed laws are not known to all actors. A point was also agreed upon at the meeting that once a law is made, it might not be as easy to modify it as new realities emerge. "Kenya," Mwangi noted, "has 120 acts of parliament on agriculture and 30 of these are on seeds. To change the situation in consonance with regional demands will take many years. Two laws will take about 10 years to change because the parliamentarians sit three times in a week for just a few hours. Moreover, criminals in seed business can easily challenge seed laws in constitutional courts to defend their positions Mwangi's observation may have set a stage for the need to work out innovative ways of getting national parliaments to facilitate the adoption of DTM so their farmers could benefit.
~ORGEDimithe, making a presentation on behalf of COWAS, advised that regional laws should be harlonised. He said communication still remains a problem in ECOWAS countries in respect of regional regulations. Tahir pointed out that rnaize import restriction was high in countries under review, Nigeria inclusive. Even as Tahirou lamented that maize prices fluctuate while fertiliser prices are nearly fixed, others suggested that agriculture be treated in ways that would generate more interests, especially the input and output prices. In solving the problem of high interest rates on bank loans, which make lending to the seed sub-sector unattractive and unprofitable, Stephen Yakubu, a seed company operator recommended that public service breeders should be allowed to certify seed companies. He said " R & D is not cheap." This appeared to be restated by Dr. Mwangi who said, in Kenya, most seed companies don't have the capacity to produce hybrids." Despite identified obstacles to the widespread use of DTM, efforts have been made to disseminate the variety to farmers. According to Menkir, drought tolerant varieties of maize have undergone field trials before they are released. In West Africa, he stressed, "we have regional trials and shared results with partners in the past three years." Considering the need to help farmers appreciate improved varieties of seeds, Dr. Ajala suggested that new hybrids need to be taken up and old varieties left behind. In Kenya, noted Dr. Mwangi, "there are evidences that hybrid maize outperforms OPV (open pollinated varieties} under any condition."This was corroborated byAbebe: that the studies in Nigeria in the 80s showed hybrids as doing better than OPV. A contrary view was made known by Asuboah, that in some disease situations, hybrids succumb while OPV survived. However, it was advised that seed companies need to embrace hybrids if they want to survive.
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* SIDE government's possible legal obstacles, seed comi» panies have been identified as critical stakeholders £ athat need to be prodded lo enhance the dissemination of the drought tolerant maize. Presentfy, said, Dr. Abe be Menkir, an HTA scientist, "production and supply of enough hybrids has become a challenge" and "conducting DTM field'trials by seed companies is becoming a problem." ! It was suggested that seed companies should train people, and not depend on roving breeders. They were also challenged to build capacity for their own personnel to make their impact better felt. Professor Johnson Oyimbeof the National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services, ABU, Zaria, requested for information about the level of adoption of seeds, asking the private seed companies to identify critical areas that can win sympathy and support of donor agencies on seed development. It was made known that Nigeria's seed laws have implication for regional trade. Asuboah, for instance, noted that "when the (regional) harmonisation issues come into play, most of these stringent rules {across border) may not apply. The position of Nigeria was made known by the representative of the NSS, wno agreed that harmonisation was in line with ECOWAS and that Nigeria was "keying into it and to world best practices." How inten4ed farmer beneficiaries'would get DTM was an issue that the scientists tried to examine at the meeting. It was observed that most seeds don't get to remote areas because of the financial stress on seed companies, just as
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