13
THE NA nON FRIDAY. OCTOBER 26. 2012
AGRO-SUSINESS
Expert warns on adulterated food products 'Flood-tolerant crops needed'
E
ONOMICALLY motivated lldulleration (EM A) osts the food ilnd consumer producis industry millions yea rly. food safely ellpert Prol Stephen Fapohundahas said. EMA is the frnudulent. inten· tional substitution or addition of a substanCe in a product 10 increase its value or reduce the cost of its production Internationally, the cost of one adulteration incident ilVl!Cilges between two and 15 per cent of yearly revenue. In an in lerview with Th~ N. lion, Fapohunda,who is of the DepilTtment of Biosciences and
Storl.. by O.nlel Enlet Biotechnology, Babcodc UniveT+ sily, His"an Remo, Og:un State, .saId EMA is a serious Issue because f>t'C?ple who perpetrate it defraud the public for KOnomic gain. making it a criminal act. He said there were cases of Nigerians goin~ to China to fake roducts. misrepresent food , ood. in~ienl!, and repackage a legitimate product fraudulently. Fapohunda said the economy and the health of Nigerians were al risk with high rate of counterleiting. While all Incldenls of EMA
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will not result in a public health risk, he noled that they hllVe the potential to negatively impact bnnds. According to him, EMA is fraudulent because it involves substituting II lower cost product for a higher one. Man y liTe involved in the act, and the adulterants used may be unconvl!'ntionaJ and difficult to detect. Therelo!? aCC1$S to legitimate products must be sufficien tly rrolected and monitored within the production facilitif'll from vbitors and unauthorised employees to pre"'ent diversion of products for illegitimate means.
A
CROP protection (';Jrp6t. Dr Dilniel GWilry. hu urged
r_rmers to plant more nciOd~
tolerant ~ thai can 5urvivt' the effects of chmate change. Speaking with nit NlllioJ'f. Gwary. wtio ill an As:sociate Pro-
fessor, Department of Crop Protection. University of Maiduguri, said farmers would need to switch crop' 10 addrell!l the imp"ct of floOding He said flooding could nega· lively ImJUlct 00 food production, land and waler resources
He nid nood-tolerant nops have II fig.l:lting chance to oul1asl r.tin5 and floods To cope wilh Ihe conllnuing weallit!r-reliHed 105ses, Gwary said farmers were switching 10 maize' ilnd other resIlient crops. To deal with the mort" challenf;+ i"S wuther conditions, he SInd farmers should grow II variely of high-yield crop,;. such as tomatoeo; and vegetables He urgf"d farmer.; to pl\5ure that the progre5s th~y h3v~ madl! IS nol "odf'U bel:aU5e of thl! changing w~alh". Acrording lo'hlm, till! stra l ~lt~s should includl' flood-resistant crops to Irrigation syslems InteflSf' and unpredictable ~ods of ram have ruined crops and !hrl!lItened livelihoods in most parts of the
~ou~I~~~Utel ~~15o become
• Or EI.,mo
and
Blan~h
in h.,r
offi~~
FIIRO, firms to boost tomato production
IlE reder-Ii !nsutule 01 IndusIrial Research. O!lhodl (r1IRO) and two rompamf"< set 10 ~t lomalo pnxfuctioo
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and~ing
The two finn .. arf' Talon Grour NIgena and Alvan 5lan(h of the Umled kingdom. "peaking with Tllr NatIOn, after her mt't"ling wilh rt'pr~nlatit N' of lhe company. IMI week. lhe 01m:tor C"".ener-al (II RJRO. Dr GI(lrU1 Elemo..... id more than ';() pol'r ct'I"Il of haryt"5ted lomal~ ~roil due to madequalt' proces~mlt and packaji;mg f.K::ihhf"< According 10 her, lhi!' nUlnhonal value of loml'ltl) make!! It one of thi!' mo,1 popull'lr itemc . There lire mIlny reL"OflS for p~ing tomalot'S. The maJor onr;--~~ ensunng IhelroduC1 i, IIvallable all-year roun with p~rvahon As itsrommercial vi\1ue incn:.lst'!<.
I)r F\emo 51l11d efficienl pron"'Sing w~ Important to facihlille healthy movem('nl of Ihe produC\'" tn Ihe markel 'ihe s;<Iid Ihe produce w(luld he prcoc:ecced into variom products. soch as !'alICe. pa~ll!', ketchup, mul ney. ~ree, .... m. JU~ Of squash, and ba.'<e of other sauce§ In tht' tomato vlllue cham. she nott'd that f..tmf'r'll lind othC'r actors have b~en applying infl!'rior productIon arrro..~h in M ....·~llng and post-harvesting lechnologies. leading 10 a high level of lomato 1058 aOO pnce fluctuations Or Ele:mo said AfRO would like
:~r:~::S t:1r:d~~ ~~~id~~~5
large-5Cille levels
She said t!tt' Inslitute wanted to Improve processing Ihroughout lhe m310 prodoctiOfl areas .. nd 10 ,!upport farlllers withm geogrnphJc cluster~ in the production and marketin~ of tomatoec Acco«hng toher. d~elormrnt of Ih~ proce"'Ilng seclor m.y cllmulate quality production practices among suppliers. <;he exr~ the hope thai I!tt' collaboration will strenglhen smail enlerprisf"'. erthano!' prOductJ.~'lty I profilabillty and off-hum inoom~ through increased a~ to market! and !il"fV1Ce 1l1e fI.. lanagmg Director, Alun Blanch. Mr AiKJew Blanch. !<aid his comp;my ho15 help«! farmers ~ hited'! engirn"!ring equipment thai eN\"'" ""'" to <ipond prod"" ...... improve product quality and lTIC'd !he needs of n~ d.iSt'eming CU'S1omI!r5 wht1e il1Cll5ll5mg theu- .,iUrungs.
Odu'a Farmers Academy admits 500 OYES cadets VFR 500 memt>ers of the ()§lIn Slate Youths Empow. ermenl Scheme ('O' YI!'!) have het!n Admitted 1010 Odu'a r"r~' '\Cildemf for a Sill-monih rractical trllinmg m modem farm-
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The carlels, who are mainly Young men releaced from the scheme by the Osun Siall! Gover· nor, ~beni Rauf Aregbesolft, for Ihe lfalnlng, will t-e ('){PosW to mooem It'rlIruques In Ihe managemenl of food crop'", horlkuliUTl! and T('aring of cummercial liveslock The cou~ indudl!' commercii'll c rop prnduction (mai7.e, wal('r m"ron. vegetahle, lomaI~ll1\'eslllCk rroduction and short .'"OUrse!i on rroject monagement lind aquaculturl' Thl! mov(' by the state gov('rnmenl 10(fl8a8e the YfOUlh in mernant_...-d farming I.S .timed al helrmg
perreT.
FfOm BI,I Otadele. Ibadan
tiltn food security m Nigeria. lie ~id the cadets would be ex-
10 plug the shortage of food pro-duction in the slal(' Aregbesola 5aid with the training. Ihe agrtcultural potential of llie stille ..... ould be developed. lidding thlll lood would be made avallllblr and at kJw rrice 10 the p!!OplC'. The govemtlI" had disc:lO!ed thai the focus of his administration woold be on industnalising the state thtmlAA fanl1l"lt and provl5lOll of e!l-"Il'ntial fa.. 10 ~tke~~ Slandmd of
posed 10 Iheory and pracliel' of
fr!bes
TIT,oup Managing Direclor (GMO) of {)du'a Inv~enl ComUmlted. Mr Adebayo JimoJt. whl (' "'c~h'ing ttwo students. '!Did the academy was ~tabli~hed In prol' ide Ihe highecl levl!1 of quolltiltil'e and mlXfem tr.urung (or new and emerging rommercial farmeD in villble food rommochbes 10 'iUS,
p'"r.
farming and this would bring about an .. hemative 10 lhe old traditional way of farming The Odu II boss noted Ihal Ihe ITllmccs would enfoy an after-lrain· ing (ollow.up and support by the gov~rnmenl through their local govemmen~ In making available liutds and !10ft I~ for theJr IiIkeoff at the end of lhr p~r.unme 1l1e academy situated .t the old (arm cetllre, (AI5U) Ede. near At.er.o in Oslin Stale pmvid~ lraining for commercIal farmers in food com· modlhes It will assist Iralnf"f'S in rlanntng and laying out farms and (ann ....tales. processing, (arm bmlne55 ntan"gement and executing trainer',> fea~lbllity and writing bank.. hie proposal
f1eanwhlll!, I~ Fedl!Rl Govem+ ment has assured thai Ihere will be no famine or food scarci ty in by 2013. as rumoured follOWing fl()od, thai disrupted farming to somr pam of the country 1'he Minisler of Agncullure and Rural Developmenl,lJr Akinwumi Adrsina, g;lve Ihe l15... urnn~ 111 lhe just-concluded Nahooal Agncullur~ Show in Tudun Wad a, Nasarawa Siall! wW~ have alrelldy put In pl;lce ;I Flood RecovlI'ry FOod Product ..:.. n plan 10 support farmer .. 11\ Ihe flood aHl'Cted areM;w hE' ~id • As the flood Wilt" recedll"". we Will embark on a flood rece'l5ion
food production intervention t!Ol me assure Nigerian~ that we shall nol have foo(l crisis or fam ine and w~ will recover from Ihe nood ." Adesina said over 100 metric tonne!! of maiu ~s Ih~1 mature in 60 days, to ~ planted on 5,500 hf'1:lares (If fArm land .. in Ihe affecled areas, had ~en secured Thlc. he explained. would allow IIffectei:l farmers 10 have crC?P5: quickly lind If't"d them
::~~~~ ~t'::ed~:' ~h=: ftl~~~;~
yield over 11 ,000 \(lnne .. of Ihl' crop. ~ This wiI1 ~ comrlt'mf'nted with an addillonal !'ilX1.nm lonne< In be produCfll under irngall{ln In the
Ihallh~
d?h::s:::&i:' Fed had. in the past wl!'ek. mobilised from WIthin anrl o .. !!Iide Nigt'ria. over 2O.(Xl() mel n c tonne of riO" seed!>. The _ds .. re("Tl(lugh to pl .. nl on "(l),(XJJ heclares of f.. nn land~ in the nOC'ld "I ff"Cled are"5 HI!' added Ihal Ihl~ would allnw I~ product1(1n of L2 million ml"l TIl' tonn" of Tlet! ~dlns Aexorrl mg 10 rum'llanhn g mlitE'rial~ Inr C1I~!lava an yam would alro ~ madl' available and Itovl'mmf'nl wa~ making ~,.jhll! frond, fH'm the strat~IC gr"l0 r("«'rveo;, 10 Ilw affected sialf"'.Ade<;lOa harped nn Ihl!' need 10 ,"crease the weatherindelt crop IOsurance scheme for farmers . "TIlt' nCl<ld IS a wake-up call and With chanlpng we3ther raHeTl1~ Wl' musl df.-\·elop roho~ f(lr rr~ If'Ctlnft fanner<; from Ihf' Impllcl~ral Gov~mment
d~o~llh:sa~~/~~~~~ ~;~ldaIIY
~ \~ netd 10 ~Calf'-llr Ihe wl!'illher-lndf''I; CT(lp Incur. nee ccheme for flUm~T" AT~.·t>ilc ..d nood lnsuTitnce "hl'm" mu'!'l I~ pIli 10 phtO" 10 en~urt' dl!.Mter p .. y. ml'nlS 10 fa,me'" ann crommunI I~ from noodc lind drou~hl5 thai occur over va~I au'a.c and """,,II ~. yond indiVIdual farmer.- h" added
Zamfara fanners get N3.7m loan o
fewer than 124 ~mall· scale farml!'T' in ZIImfara Stale havl! receivl!d ~oft loans of aboul NJ.7 milli('fl under the St!1f-reliance EconomIC Ad\'anCemenl J>ro~rammt' (SEAP), Ihe E1I;ecuh\'e Director of the progrnm~, Dr Olatundt' Oladokun. hilS SIIld
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l~~' ~~~~;~i1fl::;dr;h~~~ eflcillries werl!' selecled from Gusau. Tailltll Mafdra and 5ukkuyyum local go"'ernment areas. Oladokun !laId more than NI12 million ha been di~ursed In farmers under the pogramme th15 year lie ~Id the objiclh'e of the loan was to providl!' !;mall-scale fllnnT'I wllh a stroog capital baq. for dgricullurnJ investmenl that could multiply their outrut and lurn their economy around lie Mid the programme wa .. e1l-
pech'd 10 eqUip the fannets with Improvt'd prOOllC"hl·e Ci'lrallh- HIld gl!'ar, thl!'m t(l ..... ;ud. "al'log thrlr prrohl f(lf ~U'n'"h;"m<"'" \Ie caid the programme \\ ac rilckftged in rrol1i1l'O"'lhon with Ih" IrAO-"ssl.. tl'd Rural rm.ln{e In~h lUIlOn BUlld,"~ r,n,-:ramnl" (RUFIN). 1(1 II~~I~I farmt'''' 10 re.. l· iq. I!tt'ir dTf'am of hlghl'r "Ield In agriOlllural rrf'llucliron lit' called fin th .. ~tAt .. gewNn. menl t(l ~urrrorl IIIf' rrngramln" b>.' rrovidmg /I mlcro-fmance fa nlily so thl'lt ihe loan "iChem" could b.- replica led In other local gn\· I!'mmenl areas of Ihl' "'I'Ile In hi~ u'mllrk on the OCca~IOII. th~ slale Commi~~ioner fror Ag r!culture. Alhllii Mall'lml Yandnlo. advi~ed the bent'ficiaT1~ 1(1 milk" ludicious uS(" o( the loan lind rn ~ure prnmpt reravmenl co IhM thl!' rrogrAmme could h" ~1I" tained
Fed Govt to boost pig production in Abia J fE Federal ("oOl.-emmenl will ""bark on the enh~t of ptg producbon 10 Abta Stale nelll year. Mr Simeon OziTi. the FedcrallJtn.octor of Agriculture, in !he 5latr. has said. Oziri d~ !hI:." duong 110 mlrrview wilh the /Iku", ,Agt"My tf Nrgmtl (NAN) in Umu .. hlil on e(forts 10
T
sustam the rn:wamme" Oun I!aId the Fedefal '''''''''"""",",,1 wanled 10 ".~'-('f"JIp.e on the pot~hi11 of Ihl:' Slole In rig prOOU<"hon .lnd markf'tJng to lIlCTeiI5(' animal prot"m In !he1lTPlL "Thi!' pig mamot 10 AN ~ t-n mll.csive and lUCT3tive and h.w< providei:l emplo)'menl for tke r""OPlr_~
m;\';o;~:J=- In(~
""Q' " According to hIm. AN ..
... ' """ "",,,uction. lie '!aid""'" the r"Cdera1 C'oOl.'emmenl had ordered the eflumrratiofl of P'8 farmers in the 17 Ioc;aI g~'ernmenl ~ of the slate_ "'The response hM bt'om im~i'·1:' and II is our 00pe thaI this Iypt' 01 fIWI5I\'e turnoul 01 P"!iI farmers will
·'1h."t1 l!' ... hl· the ~""l Govf"In Int"nl " .... t!; 10 rtdd VIIlut:' to whal t'l alff'lldy (WI Vt'\IJ\ti in ortftoT tn ~ the ,.......,.t&.-\)' ('( thr ptg fil~ wf'ork ~ on.' tlf thf' t-I ,"",I \'UIJ (lin Uunk of ;md Illtit!' 1I("tuall), I:>elon a 'hot ca~' m Ahia. Way the bill(' the eJnr<".,f'mlt"nt roi
to anima' protem in the stall!'. IllJl\e'l1ting lholt Abla hlld not done well In
IC RK' of tho> slates thai has a 1iI".,- market IOf
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