SUNDAY PUNCH OCTOBER 30, 201 1
Agric-Economy
27
Agro allied firm moves to boost sorghum production RONKE
Bl\or~fUS
]L
~I ";:,~~o~ is to
.
foUowing
expected mcrease
Ignlllcan l ly. Ih~
inauguration
01
successful 30,000
Icnnes per annu n melting plant in Otta. OJUn State, by the Food Agro and Allied '
Industries Urniled. The company said the operation and fwther expansion o f the plant would
and
encourage more Nigerians
technology to process home grown sorghum to substitute imported barley derivatives .r • The Director of Administration, Food Agro and Allied Industries, Mr.
to take up commercial production of sorghum. It said, MThe completed mailing plant with a
capacity of 60.000 lannes per annum. 150,000 metrh: lonnes storage silos
" Competitiveness JOHN
e Mal\ilging DirectCT, USAID
T
{I~igerii'l) -fu nded
M a x i m ls i n g Ag r i( U It u r a I Key Revenue ant i Enterpnses In Targeted Sites project. II-Ir TImothy Prewitt. has scud 19ricultural competitiveness remains central to food ! KUrity in Nigeria Prewitt said II is during a press bnefing t-eld at the American Embas;y. Abuja, on Wednesda ~' .. nder the theme. "Food Se :urity and Nigeria 2005 to 2JlO . ~ He explained that the concept o f food SECUrity was
availability and affordability by the citizens. He noted that in spite of the huge potential. Nigeria sadly ranked second only to the Philippines as the World's highest importer 01 rice. The managing director also noled thaI Nigeria imported aboul 160,000 metric tons of starch, which could be produced locaUy from cassava annually. Prewitt lurther explained that MARKETS which had partnered with Nigerian farmers over the years. had increased itscompetitiveness through access to loans and improved farming methods.
tonnes
per
among others, was geared towards developing credible
AJaiye Gbenga. said the
k~y
A't.£~"invOlved its
15,000
annum mall exlrQcl plant.
company was also acquiring 5,000 hectare bam land
soon 10 establish model farms that WOI.lId 5h~ its technology and produce
quality seeds of improved varielies of sorghum. Heexplained thaI the farms would also provide technical support to out-growers 10 e nsure viable production thaI would meet quality and
to food security'
He said MThirty-lhree thousand Nigenan farmers have been trained to see farming as a business. "We start from what the market requires, what is in demand then we assisl farmers grow oops 10 mnt this demand." A document made available to reporters at the event introduced ill sequel to the MARKETS project called Bridge to Markets two. According to the document. MBtM2 is a 16month project designed to maintain the momentum created under the private sector·led. USAID-funded MARKETS programme,
to strengthen agricultural competiveness and food security in Nigeria." The programme also provides integrated income genera lion, homestead gardening, and nutrition tra.ining to chronically lood insecure households to enable them improves thei r economic opportunities and access to lood.
O
the next week. ~ Deere and the lertilizer companies are providing equipment to the global economy so if there's a slowdown in Europe and it affects Asia, there's going to be less demand for the products." Ann Milerti. who helps oversee about S209. I bn as senior portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, said In an interview yesterday at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. M Global growth is the biggest question mark. ~ Implied volatility, the key gauge of options prices. for the ETF's contracts expiring in 30 days plunged by 38 per cent from October 4, whe n it reached the highest level since March 2009. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VlX. tumbled by 21 per cent during the period to 32.22 on Wednesday. The gauge' s
an agricultural produce processing company with 50 lonnes per day ultra·modern malting plant in 2007, has upgraded its facilities to international standards. He said, wWith the expected commissioning of Malt Extract P1ant in 20 12. the company will enter Into anot her phase, also pursuing lis expansion plan of increasing production from 30,000 lonnes per an.np." 10 48,000 lonnes per annum in 20 12 and 60.000 lonnes per annum by 2014. MNotonlywillitsaveforeign exchange now wasted to impor1 Malt extract. but wiD also have the potential 10 earn foreign exchange through exportation of this widely sought alier high value food ingredient to West African countries also, he added. M
/ ANIM AL CARE i8/
Invites All Poultry and Llve.tock Farmer.
Agl'iculture puts surge after ETF pi,o", ,,,,d,,, peak rise since ?009
..are snapping up )l"oteclion against dec l ne$ in agricultural stad s a t the fastest ra te in f( ur years. locking in gaul! alter a security Ihat tr,ck5 the industry rallied the most since 2009. E!oombe.rg reports. The ratio ha! jumped from 0 .74 o n O :tober 14 for the biggest tncrease since January :C008, the data show. The fund tracking Monsanto Company, Potash Corpal< lion of Saskatchewan , Deere and Company and 13 other stocks rose by 1:: per cent this month after falling 17 per cent In S ?ptember. Investors are a Jdlllg to hedges before ArcherDaniels·f-lidland :Ompany and 12 more c:)mpanies representing 34 P!l" cenl of the fund's total market value report quallerl~' results in
quanlity requireme nts. Gbenga said, MOur belief in the potential of the Nigeria agricultural sector informed the huge investment in modem malting technologies, reauitmen t and training of qualified manpowi!I. and adequa te infrastructure to support production and processing of raw materials 10 meet the needs of the Nigerian food and beverage industry. MWe belil!\le that our efforts WID help boost the supply chain in the agricultural sedor. We C1I!l on relevant authorities to e ncourage indigenous sorghum production by revisiting the issue of low import dulies on imported Sorghum and barley malts. ~ According to the statement. the company, majorly incorporated as
to a public presentation attha
,
21-year historical average is 20.50. It fell by 3 .7 per <enl
The world economy will expand by four per cent in 20 11 and 2012, the International Monetary Fund said on September 20, reducing its forecast from June estimates 01 4.3 per cent and 4 .5 per cent. European stocksslid from an II -week high Wednesday after EU finance ministers canceled a meellng, fueled concern that the region's leaders may struggle to resolve the debt crisis. Mlf you remain pessimistic on a European solution, this is a good way to play it , ~ said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist a t Miller Tabak and Company in Ne\Y York. ~They' re growth- senSitive stocks so if we're going to have a rerun to the downside then they would underperform .~
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