THE
ATII )
FRlOAY. JUNE 22, 20.2
17
AG RO-BUSINESS
'Urine fertiliser can boost 'Invesbnent in agric can eradicate poverty' crops growth' I W ........ '1<ri<uI'""" NVE5T1NC
U'I 'sncultu~
IS
the most eHKllvl!' way to
HICH .. bdm- between human unne and mml:1ll fm:il1M!r1 To Prof Abe l Paunwale. a ~ search felluw a\ Allry FArming Network 'or Tropical Afrln (AFNET A). ur- Is better and can help poor fal ",en to incru.H YieldS. Hr lU("pOrtec l lhe QrnFM-'S" 10 promote Ity. \;.01 unnr uwtload Of fertiliwr arrOflS poor farmers DK.unwale. HI10 teaches Agri culfuul E'l: te \ltion and Rurlll Devrloprn~ nl Plo t the lAdo ke Akinlola Uni"ttsily of Techno l· 08)'. OgboIUOIJ,. ..aid ~ fillnnrn c.. n u~ t rine to hrlp r;llH
nt-
bumper 01",.
He Wild th ·r.. w u nothlns w~ With usil1f: uone etcrpt the httle nsk ()( lonlamhUllion by p.thosens. if II is not p~rlr rollectiod He atd the \ AI of hUm.ln urine can hrtp ko 1MmftS,. Ex~ ... IC I' rtnr is is made up of nitros, n potHSium .. nd phoephon". I'M' Nme elWlt'nts that ncounsh co ops.
Br
0...... balet,
Agrlc COI'Teaponlhnl
.,.,.n,lX
Sridevi GovinClaraJ. Aid sfwe has le!IIted unne on mllizto. han.. Rls. r .. dishes. tom .. IM-'. millet Ind Frend\ beans• .nd l'ec'tived good results In nruly .. n case, urine outpe!"lonned chemical fertiliser. w lidded. "'Now many fill1l'lftS adopt our technology aoo Implement it in their fiddi." Sridrvi added. "Humiln urine is. indeed. not .n unwanted waSle. but it is a ~I~~"~~IA~
Unne is • huge and mostly Wlblr.ped rnerve 01 crop Ifttn~ If Indl.. ns collected lind applied 40 Pft" aont of Jt. the country Could sav~ 526.7 million (12 billion ru....l. ",
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Sridevi saJd UJlJ'II!' has nutnmls which meets plllnb need In 22 pl)ons (100 hlre5). there are n'I(ft iJw, lOoz CJOO5cm) of nitrogen. 60z (170gm) of 0fn{lOSphorous . Ind
S.60z {l6Ogm of potassium. Ao:ordiri8loher. it hu every nu·
trimt tNtt plants can ~ "'l-Iuman urine can brdlectivdy used in agriculture for food pJ&. ducbon will lessen our dependency on commen:i.. 1 (ertiliSer." .he Aki. lium .. ns produce about SOO litm! of urine per penon per Y.Nt. The.se contain about four ~ of nitrogm. 05 kg of phosphorou.! and one kg o( potusium. the Ihr~ b"~lIc eJe--
rt'ildicale poverty in A(flC;I, President. lnterTYtJonal Fund fOf AgriculturAl Development ((FAD), Dr K..Nlyo Nwanu h.u said
""",b "" """, growth. "The .mount varies. ~ on food mtakeo. GkIbIl ~ for
out of poverty than investments in any oUW"r JKtDf" ""'Thry not only dri~ econonuc growili.nd Rt ihr mge for IonS-
chftnicaI futiliser tan men over IhI! Jut ye.r, rontributtns to food poet 1.f1O"NMS of 40 per cent. IICm 10 ltM' Food Agric:ult~ _ bOn(FAO) Index_ turze: in ~ price has abo 0YCk' 1M pr-actlSinS o( con· YmIK1rYI asncult~ Il1CI85mgly difficult. ep«i..Illy for smallhokle" lumen In dnoetOping countries Art a result of the rapid upward ft'IO\Ienft1l 01 price. tfWre M5 hem II wowing (ntefftl In altnNIuve 80Urat of (ertil~ m"olving rrcydmgand ~
~
Nwanu II. ted thi. in New York.. He said lncrft5ing Investmmt in agriculture wu essentlal to achIeVing thr Millennium [)eveopmml Goals (MlXd).
" Investments in .~rulture are more elfKllve In IHoog people
IfOrm . u s l,u nablf' df'vrlo pme nl ~
JNll luEh dtvidends in tcrm5
of quality cit life .nd dignit y for fXlC!! runl people "The experience of IFAD has shown lNit 'gnc:uJlun II • business, and our bustne5 IS to makelure smallholder .sricuhure proflt.ble 50 that rund communities can thnve." NWlnu 15 e)(pected 500n I' AddiS Ababa for the 10mt Annual Meding of the African Uruon Con-
fem'lCe of Mini!lns; of Economy and FlTwl\C'e
~ IFADducl will. ,I the meetmg. sMre his vision for ensunng th.iIl sma11ho&dft" f&rmft'5 ~.t thr cen~ of any plan for peel-lOIS.
Dea1eIS to govt provide maintenance facility " ' ~GETABLE dealers In ~ Sttle haw appmed to ltM' SQ~ sovenunent to provide them With mdustnlll fdngenton ..nd other mea,. of ~g thett pen.sh.JbIe com· inodilies. The SKretlry of Veg~tlble De.. lers ASSOCiation , M.lam 0.1.. Sani. m .. de the appe.. 1 10 Kana. He noted tNt thr IKk of good pn~.serv"hon techniques fI .. Impacted neg .. "vely on lhelr their business. lead Ins 10
V
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He Aid " Due to the: bek of modem presnv.. t;on facili~ have been tftOrd~ heAvy every y~lr .. nd tl1u; run.! Into millions of Nira .. He decried the conchbon of the V.nbbl Vegetable Mlrket in the metropolis. slreMing that It was in dire need of reha611itltion. lie aPP:Nled to the: governmenl 10 provIde soft loans fo ~ben of the UIIOCUItlOf"t 10 f!Nbl~ them to expand thdr busineu
'Family farms key to rural change' HE PrOllr.mm~ Co ordinator, Farmen OrI.oelopmenl Union, Mr Victor otowe. his C&r\\'J!Ued nallOnw;de ampal~ 10 ~ family f.",.. In&- M}'Inll could fJlClhl .. ~ rural dYnS' ThoUgh famdy fArming IS pnc.
T
hoed mo5tJyDr1 sm.aIlKl~ . ~
told Tht N.'JOIt II can providt> a WiIIl oul 01 poYl!t"ly fOf rural Niboo&llng food Cf"t1' producbon and M'It-comumptton Promotinll family fArmlns M ~ hu bKolI'W cnhClI beOUM It.- PfOJ'IOrbOn 01 households IIv· "" - wt'11 m Ow rural .. ..- an ~N ,
"'th ~id supf,0rlln ll fAmil y farrr.en; and faml y f.nn-cft1~
· fro. Iltft: Allocl.tlt Dirt<tor, Wut Ahie. Cltntrt for Cro p Impnt .. ~.lt"t 'WAttll, Ch.n~'r.'. 5 •• Kw ... lt Offd; t>rp.t, tl~"ft1I l 1'"tftftSkl,..M C. pMity l.lI dl"aI. lntft1l .. tlo" ..,1 .... 1I 1.~ of Tropiul Aplnlh.", IIITAI Dr 1(~"I"n Duhl<tll; Dlrtttor, WA t t l. Prof lCrk ·tb" q ... h .. nd DlrKtor for Wnl Ah l,.. IITA. Dr Jtobltrt ",-Iltd .... ft .. r Ihl "Inlnl of Ih~ M ....onndll" of UndI"QI...d l"l tMoUJ I" Ib. d.".
food S)'lilemJ If II powerful .tnll· 10 r"Itilllll:~ communltaes ICI'w. the country 0I0wt Aid f..mily fa.-men are the backbone of th4i nation-the first rung on the economic ladder According to him. when (amily
csr
$12m project on yam production in Nigeria, Experts harp on use of technology lanai lnshlute ef \... rieties. Mr Aye Akinol... Jllklll I\u brTropka,l (UTA) Ghana coming 11w: p"vate pllrtnen ue ax-nr for to
TI
IIItM '~
lind" Its
~idins,. d~teistanl
"~riculture
'1'rtnen
hive announcrd a M1" rutUitive 10 booIt yam fRductiVi~ and doubir the lnCOI'JItsof thrteinillion yam farm.ers in West AhlOl. lbeWti.JIIVil!. Yamlm~t for Income .... 1 Food Security bt W... Afrlco (YII'SWA) - . ;, ru"".,..... by • 5 l2 mlIIlori pan' from the Bnl • Melinda Gates
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It woWd be at by DTA in col· iabonban with Nigeril and GhIN. the Uruted Kirl..'"41011l •• N.. tun.1 R.IIOUJtB btltut; INRI}. the Alliance for a Giftn R"f.,luliOn in Africa (AGRA) and (IIthoik Rr.Uef 5ef.. vkn(eRS)
Th. prCtK' 1 will focus on i.nctus1n8 ylelo s through be«.r M'ed tubef '1upply Ind imrroving I1"IIIrkriJ for IN trop It, Di rec l .,. .(j~nerll , Dr Nlftllnyl Smre'l.... Slid increuulS ~tt':kh wt:~t.'J' booM the UlCUine
~t nC'w. n ..t farmtta cultl' vale yams rT\.1 'n 1. (or household consum~ b .... If wean Increase ytrkis while al'O(: improving mar-
kehng conditions. then many of thesr fanners should be .b~ 10 Nm I steady incoane from grow-
~
pries have hem risinJ in re«:nt yeln hK.UH there ... a """'" d...... "" .... avp .. A/rica.. and in places such as Europe and the Uruted Stalft,. w~ rapidly growin& Wat AiI'bn lmm1pn t communiliell .lill have a hiS lI~te for their tndltionaUy ~ seapw,." he Nid.. The project is an ambitious, mullifaCned five..)'ft'"~ffort limed .t doublinr; ltM' mc::ome. of Ih.million srniJI·hoIder f.n:ners. II. ini lilll fOCWl Is on 200,000 smallholder fum families In Nlgena and GhanI. 90 per aonl 01 whom cullivlI~ lea thari twOJlCml A key oriority is 10 etI5Urf' tNt .. ffordabl~ pesl' and di5cil5e-frft ~ Y.. J1\lI are a..,.i1 .. ble to lurners wllh .Ior"ge and h .. ndling technol~1t'lIi tNt can redUCt! postharvest lOss. V.. m breeders will develop iInd wklely di.ssemlNle new. IUgher·
"1'1"1
c=
lector
5
imperali~
N~
In-
ox ....... to ploy • .." .... by vKtin. CfttirJll!d teed and wor . with efforts to link SIJ\il • holder fll'l1'llel"Jl, ~y thoee: in fftnOle ueu, 10 markdS w~ ...trons and Iteady demand fM yams stioukI altow lhfm to rnliJe the economic benefits 01 inaHRd producbvhy "The.bllftnmtquoted Dr- ~
. . . . _md_
" '~ _ ............ Of_ "".. ttw: al1he Bill 6; Mehnd Galel FOmdaboJ\,. llvir« thai the irtiti.Jliw would help m...b a dilterence in IhI! live!ll Of f....-mrtS. '"Yams at1' a very ~t crop k)sm&IJ hokkr f,mnns 11\ Africa and d thee (armers can pow mon! and hav~ ~te" JIC'CHI to ~ it can make. mil dlf~ in thdr IJ\'I!5 "Women will M .clively enppl in thts prqect. in part beCause they play an Importlnl role in)'lm prOducuon and I1"IIIrkrting "We want 10 reKh a sUlS~ where robust y.. m aeftI produChon IechnIqut:s Will \L1l' ,-rtsof tht- yam plant other than tuhV"J, thereby ~Ieas,"g an Mtdltional JO per ce"it of the crop to food waft tuOen," W IIId
Hoe Mid \Ick 01 in&Ist:ructun! and apprnpNte techrdog are burl... to ogrl<uI.... _ He ~ thatddanunedstruc-lural chlnsr at the Nbonal level Ind I proactive st.. nee towards .griculture sector challmse: were needed to Idck-start the indUSlW d~'dopmenl which could boo6t food production. He emphasised 1M nerd to in~ue interaction between sa.ntba and filJlJ1leB 11w: fumen, being u1llm11le benefiduy of researCh. should 1n fully Involved In Idmtifying ~ search pro;ects, besid~ crelliing linbge!ll al the grusroots level. he Hid
its
a~h1l1l1
productivity, not only 10 feed people. but "Uo pnwide raw I1"IIIteriai for the deYeI~t of vlrious industries. He
cnMe
~
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noloSleal lnfusion wC!:re by to
~-ogri<uI"''' a SWitairulble gowlh. ~ dUl"'l! fum Iot!raes and inOase farm.-
ft\SUn!
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