THISDAY ' TJESDAY,JUlY3, 2012
29
BU5INE ~ )5WOR L D
AGRIC
JEnJlanced Soil Fertility Essential for Nigerian Agric Revolution' The push fO' I\it;'!ria"s agricultural t.rarufor ni1tlon and a possible 'Cn!f'Il I eo oJution' in Africa to lOO':!a5' ilgricultucal
production Icof" f .oJ and emfIClIT\IC devdcp-ne t . ..;u not bear much &WI if adec Ili'te ..ttmbm not paid I.) 0 anagmg soil fertility in tht· C( nhnent. T1us asserti Xl v:-t5 made by the Director Q-nual of the InIemational hait.D' cI Uopical Agri<uJ""" (UTA h,dan. Oyo Stitte, Dr Nteral"' Yi Sanginga '"Solid soil (, rblity managemenl is 1o.1t)'- F lr cassava commerrialisntip 1 and OUf Green Revoluti< n, we need to USII! fertilisu5 c IS"nic and inorganic - ak.'ns: Kle the highyieldmg and ji51-a:.e-resistant 15
varieties, " saL:t S Inginga. A~ Afric ill . current application ,Qi nutnertt. whether orgz'l.ic OJ inorganic fertiliseB. is e-tiDHbod al8 kg/
cr
ha. Resmrchen sa (t hr amounl is low, and it ~ m ~ cof the rniIJOr !I!!Ibacks to the aJI',IH,,,t's visio1
of
adequatel~
The Alnc.u
fet d ing itself
t ' 'Iln accepts
this \'erthct lll&: las caUed on counlnes n 1"If rontinent
In increast' application of soil nutrients to 50 kg! Ita of nutrients combuting both organic and inorganic fertilisers. Addnsmg participants the Global Cassava Partner5hip In Kampala. Dr. 3.mginga said Ahica 0IJlJl0t Khieve a Green Revoluhon "''ithcut first having II 'Brown Revolution' • a term he used referring to Ule impltM!menl 'x sOO conditions through tile lppllcation of organic and IIDI'ganic fertilisers. Adcnow'edgtng that much n vestment had gone into ,J ~e1oping high-yielding Ci'lssuva varieties that an' resistant to ~ me cf the major pests and diseases, the lITA DG said the gaU\5 achieved III the breeding work cannot 1>(' realiSed if the5e varietieJ are grown on poor soils He said it was wtfortunate Ihat cassava had been tagged kr many yea.n> as iI poor liMn's crop thai does not lequire much mput such a~ fcrtlhsers. He argued Ihal the crop harvests as much nutrients from the !-nil as ol:lw-r crops and that
these nutrients need to be replenished_ "Nutnenl use m cassava has been very minimal as it lS
oC the equation." "Soil fertility is one of the lni5sing linb in the struggle 10 conunertiaI.ise assaY"- For
ing 10 a shortage oC land to expand production< therefore d-.e 0X"Itinent has to intensify tis
ronsidered a poor man's crop. now entreprenetns mvolved in However, if we are talking cassava pl"DCt'SSing &Ie saying Ilbout cassava transforma- that there Sa' t emugh Gl'5lva. tion, about ina"ea5ing cassaVIl wherea5 farmers. on the other production not omy for food hand,. are Silying tha t there are
supports more than 25 per CEnt 01 farming households Itt sub-Silhasan Africa. equivalent to over 100 million people.
but also (or commercial use, thee wrong pen::eptioru_ if \..re thmk of growing cassava in soils that are too poor for other crops such as llliliz." ill· said. Hlhen. we are missing t1.e other haU V>"e must change
no markets." Sanginga said the African population has been rising rapidly, reqUIring mcreased production to feed additional mouths. HowC\'er. lfII:J"ea5l11g population has also been lead-
producticn G9ia\'a pnx!uction
OveraU. over 60 pel" CEnt of the world's c.as.sava is grown theo cuntinent yet the yidds are very low, averaging 10 tonne5 / ha compared to over 40 tonnes/ ha achieved in Asia and Latin America where the crop is grown for rommercia.1 III
"'"1he Global Cassava Parlnersrup for the 21st Century (CCP2.1) CCI"Iferenao is taking place on June 18-22, 2012 in Kampala, Uganda. GCPlI consists of 45 member institutions working on research and devdopmcnt of cassava. a staple aop relied on by more !han 700 million people worldwide. The ultimate gOilI of the partnership 15 10 improve OJSSitva productivity through scientifIC resl'JilIIiI and de\'elopmenl
FG Restates Commibnent to Develop Agro-commodities reml Aklnsuyl ln AbuJa
and pre9I!I1laDon c:J ce1ifaies 01 registration 10 three new
Nigeria, NA5P~; ~nu~/
performiUll."e of the Nigerian
Bitter" Kola Produc:en and
Nigerian fa.nneI-s and the nation agro·oxnmodily as!iOOations have been iI!iISU.ted of the Federal Go. ·vemment's readiness to ~i_ its trade policy 10 enhance relations between the e;, 'untry and
rommodity A.s8ociations in Abuja Ortom said il was imperative tha t Nigma remains mevanl in gklbaI c:ommoctily trade WIth great emphasts on
A5500ation of Nigeria; and the Castor Produrers. Processors and Marketen; Association of Nigeria respectively. "Penrut me to assure the three apex national aovnodity association being launched today including the existing ores. of my ministry's support through provision of poIicH5 needed to addres5 structural constraints and enhance the
Agro-Commodities in the mlemational market with the view of facilitating I1Ipid development of the non-oil sector", he'said The nunisIe" explained thai "all these were designed 10 make this sedor potentially attractive for economK" well being of Nigeria", addU'S that development of the country's agro-«lllUllOdities would enhance its fommes tremendously.
...
-"""",&,...,...,tIvuugh
-~ available vast land together
export of agriroltul1ll commodities. Muusrer of State Tntde and Inve<'tmenl. Dr. Samuel Ortom. gave the as.sw::am! at the I1n'nIlaundung
tion in the country. The three newly-o::wtified associations are the National Shea Products Association of
with the C\'f!I"-growmg p0pula-
Mark~
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