18
T H E NATION FRIDAY. JUNE 22, 2012
A GR O "BU SINESS STATE FOCUS
Boosting food production in Jigawa o Jigawil State, agricultural growth is
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ea:nomic:
t. The
it catalyst for . . ty: olIN te5idents
-~'':''living~gh- ...
ricullure. AgrirultunlI ~ ~ muJd. ~ com,.and IiYestock.. grains~ koP nuts lOOn the bitsliOi Ji~v.'lII's
emnar:ny. The malri Industrial crup5 ~ palm oD.oo«on. rubber.
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Ilitter i5 U'led in the production 0( fibre bags. There an! varieties of vegetable and Inri! 0'0p$ produced rDl" kx::aI consumptjan..sincE the stilt.! WM 0'I5\1ed. ~tlft has ~ to be tne 1IIl.SWe£ to the growing need 10 pnxtUC'e nutritive food _r~
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,. . . . .,. arab". ""';Iy.
Over i'O per (BIt of the lltab!!'s Iai.d.mass 15 c."OI'I5demf which iNkes it 0"Ie of the moI!it agricu1hnlly endowed &tateS in
aDd r.dama", There M: 11 ooehule bA"'!ed IChemes
Nigeria must be food sufficient, says Minister T HE F(·deral Govern-
ment
ha~
dLStnbuted
fertilL"t'f" Ind seeds to
about 4.3 mUII!?n farmers under- Its Groll ~l EnhancementSupportS I-f.'ll\e (GES).
No fewer thall P""e million registered 5mll1i !-ole farm·
ers are to foenf flt (rom the .chern, The Mmi.. I!!1 (f Agricu1tw"e and Rural lJr~t Dr" Ahnwumi -\desina said al the flag off 'hi! Federal
cr
Capi'" T",,""y (R:l1 GES
disbursement tho,t .the SUp:" port's alD\ i:;. to at Ne\-e foOd sufficiency and r..ational .security.
A06ina ~aid:"Thi:5 sc::heme is desil;ned as iI vital component of the Agricultural Tnn i' J rmahon
From
Adan TkT n, Abulll Agenda (ATA) and it seeks to adueve at the micro level, food !IeClIrity for the fanner and national security at the micro level. The minisl2r also ~ that ~I is planrung 10 diStribute about 3.6 mil: lion cocoa pods to the 16 CQCOa growrng states in the Otugbtln~a
count~.
Ade5lN1 said the scheme has broughl a shift &om government'! procurement and distribution of fertiliser to private partnership. Thr country. he said must
be transfonned from a food importing nation to II food sulfident naUon. The minister revealed that, the CES redemption exercise would last for only three weeks aftef" whKh reconciliation would be conducted for 10 days to ensure all the farmers are weu attended 10. However, he said private asm dealers would have the opportunity 10 claim their SO pes- 0!I11 return immedialcly after the reconciliabon exerWePaymmts, he said. will be made into then various ac-
COWlts by the Central Bank of Nigena (CBN). In t-Ier remarks, the Minister of State for FCT, OIoye Olajumoke Akinjicle pledged to en5W1" that the GES Scheme is successful. She said the FCT administration is ready to provide irrigated lands and basic infristructure! for farmers in the territory. The redemptim dates for the Southeast and Southsouth slates ~ &om June 810 28. Northcentral and Southwest states Ire to receive theUs from July 6 to 9, 2012 while the Northwest and Northeast states will receive their GES supports from July 3 to 6.
AJVIREC trains students in pig production HE YiCr-CtHlncelior, Federal 1J$lversity of Agricultu~. Abeolula (FUNAAB'. rwf 0lu5OIa Oyewole. hIlS r, d vOOlted .m Increase in entrtpreneurial skills devdopmeflt, as a prerequislle for ~economic growth. and ad,· ncemenl. Oy~1e ~ al the training works.lwpon , ig production far seconda!sChooI Sludents in OJ;-un ale. organ~ bl the Agi i wlual"Medul ReSouttes • Exlens10n Centre (AMRECj of the amiversity He hid II. ~i"t newspa· PO' repm. qu.. .,' the t...~ Slate ComDliss.dn~ for AgricuJlun!! as .. "ing that tl'ie state em makr.bOut 52 bil· lion (O\'er NJOd bimon) from ph:. produchon. _ v;...a,~<eI'O'. "Presented t-y I >! Dir~lo, AMREC, P" Carol n Afohnhi, sirels d thillt the import;'u'lCeof\'" ltionaledu-
T
cation in the life of any nalion cannot be under~sli
~.'"
He said II helps andividu.Is to overcome poverty, by prOViding Ihem with the s kills and knowledge OC«led to i~ their income and wealth. He stated thai the Federal Govemment, in its attempt to cwb Ihr alarming rate of unemployment in !fie coun· try, nad refocused the nalion's eduOitionai system. to take c:are of modem <by realihes. Oyewole di5<losed that in an effort to complement the Federal Govfil\ment 's initiative. the university hid established a Centre lOr En· tre'pr~~euflal Studies (CENTIij, to develop entre-
~=":~:U~~=5:::;
alike, through schedu led s hort-lime and vocational course!, with the ultiml te
aim of making them self-
l':mll!o~ed 00 the students 10 make the best use of all the details that will be made aVllilable to them du~ the workshop, adding that, this will deflnHeJr be the commen<:1!ment 0 your Joumey 10 greatness and eventually, maKe you employer$ of labour". Earlier, In her welcome addre55, the Dir~tor of AMREC, who was repre~"" by D<. G""", So,"",. said AMkEC. throulV' its bt;tension and Adaptive Research Programme was poised to impact through training and practical skills, ~ kn~ledge that are refevant to agrlcultunal activihes as well as developmg positive attitude towards maJluaJ labour, and encour' agement of s.elf·relianor!. Speaking on pig production. as the choice for the aJ·
paclty building training, Professor Afolami sa.id , - Meat genentlly C(JMtitutes about 70 per cent of the SOUn:t'5 of protein in Nigeria. However, most Nigerians are not able to meet up with the required quantity of protein needed in their diet from meat beo'IU&e of the exorbi· tant 'price of meat. especially; ~r. chicken, multon and others-. The DIrector of AMREC said Pig produclton is an aspect or livestock entuprise that is highly profitab le , ~hen proper!y. mlIUl6ed, as It reqUired nurumum uweslmenf capital, but with a ClI pabillty for multiple turnovers, within a short period. Afolami charged the students to considet- the min· ing as an opportunity to be seU~mp loyed
and contribute to protein availability in the Nigerian diet.
Fed Govt, China to partner on hybrid rice f~ the end of this administration, the hybrid rlC'e will be on fanners' fields. "'The FMA&RD h;u indented
TI
F..t -nal Governme;nt will .... rtner the Otinrse RO -ernmrnt on hybrid ria' prDJ11Ciion. MinistrroiState for J..g-icu1~ and Rural [)evelot-lent, Alhaji Bukar r rynai kIIJ dd He spoke dunng a Siakeholclers' .J.ukshop on
::!m~ ~ra~Us~~ be distributed to III states of
With
Our dream
H
lhat be-
small rn vilrif1ies. !he qual· ity of locally produced rice will ~ competitive in the market." He
.