Tuesday, May 31, 2011
THIS DAY, VoL 16, No. 5881, Page 37
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BusinessWORLD agric Firm to Reduce Fish Import with Floating Cage n a bid to use fish fanning 路as a way of utili ~ ing Nigeria's water resources, Vitapur Nigeria Limited has introduced. a floating fish cage system to help reduce importation 'of fish in the country. The Managing Director, Vitapur Nigeria Limited, Mr. Oluwole Adisa, explained that the cost of importing fish into the country has raised a cause for concern, saying that the launch of the new innovative project wi ll reduce import of fish , resolve the knotty problems assoc iated wi th constructi on and maintenance of the eallhen ponds, which costs have been horrendous for fish farmers in the country. According to Adisa , the floating fish cage has eliminated the cost of power generation in this era of outrageous pricing of diesel , stressing that the capital outlay for ownin g and maintaining the platfOlm is little compared with the set up
I
By Cmsoe Osagie cost of the traditional pond system and the yield . He urged stakeholders in the aquacu lture industry to make use of this product to make fortunes wilhout stress. He therefore called on the Federal Governme nt to take advantage of the water resources available across the nation to utilise the product to address food insecurity in the nation . Adisa adpeO that the product wi ll also provide employment for the teeming unemployed youths in the country, alleviate poverry and empower the citizens across lhe nation. Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources , Ambassador Godknows Igali , said the ministry had observed the rising cost of impol1ing poor quality fish at great foreign exchange implications associated with
Nordic -Ambassadors Hail IITA Research bassadors from Finland, Norway, and Sweden have cornmended the quality of h and scientific pr0fessionalism displayed at the International Institute ofTropical Agriculture (llTA) in fighting hunger and poveny in tropical countries. The visit to IlTA-West Africa in Ibadan, Nigeria by the diplomats further reinforced the imperative. for agricultural research to address the challenges of food insecurity in tropical countries. Finland's Ambassador to Nigeria, Her Excellency Anneli Vuorinen. said '''The level of excellence and knowledge at IITA is extraordinary." Established in I967,llTA is now one of !.he world's leading research parmers in finding solutians to hunger, malnutrition, aJ)d poveny. Using the research for development (R4D) approach, the Institute works with partners to enhance crop quality and productiv il)'. reduce producer and consumer lisks. and genemte weallh from agricuirure. In over four decades or existence , the Institute has COI1-
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tributed to building the capacities of scientists in tropical nations, thereby helping to stabilise ule national research systems especially those in sub-Saharan Aflica. Improved maize varieties released by the Institute today make up 60 per cent of farmers' preferred varieties in West and Central Africa. . '''The biological control programs of the Institute against food crop pests ~\Ved cassava, a major staple in Africa;' said rITA's Director General, Dr. Peter Hallmann. Norway's Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Kjell LiUerud, said he was proud of his government's sUPPOI1 to llTA and t.he positive outcomes that research has had 011 the lives of people in the tropics. "I am happy my country is supporting UTA and I am impressed with the worl< here;' he said. Among the areas visited by the ambassadors were the lnslirute' Genetic Resources Centre, which holds in trust for Ule world the largest collection of cowpea and other crops such as soybean, cassava, maize, yam, and banana. among others.
serious losses of employment 0PP0l1unity for Nigerians. Igali, who was represented by the Director, Federal' Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Samuel Ojeka, said the launch of the new horizon for sustai nable fish suppl y will utili'se all the country's water masses and engage unemployed people on a scale that is unimaginable. He added that the manufacturers have reduce the price of the project from N 15 million to N900,OOO with a capacity to produce 16 tonnes of catfish per annum at a feed conversion
of 60 per cent. "This means that to produce I ki logramme of fish , you will need only 600 grammes of feed for the fish;' he said. According to him, the project is of international standard that only few countries in the world can anain , saying that the normal rule is I kilogramme of feed to fish at the very best. He commended Vitapur and Talon Nigeria Limited who jointly designed the project for being the first in Africa to develop and promote this technology. He also commended
the Federal MiniSlry of Agriculture, Depal1ment of Fisheries for supporting the first prototype. "I hereby recommend that this technology be deployed in all water masses of this country such as dams, lakes, waterworks and rivers. In fact there are over 200 dams in Nigeria that we believe this project will umve;' he said. "Our pall in this technology is hereby endorsed for adoption and we wi U feanrre prominently from this year;' he added. The Chief Executive Officer, Talon Nigeria Limited ,
Dr. Lanre Talabi, said Nigeria . currently spends about N800 million per i.lnnum to import 1.2 million tonnes of fish to meet the country 's demand. He said Nigeria has no business
with importing fi sh in the country if it makes proper and efficient use of its water resources ~
Talabi said Nigeria needs to be self sufficient in providing food for its entire citizenry stating that it will help to prevent and control disease since the country can produce all it needs not necessarily depend-
ing on impol1ed food .
Non-budgeted Plans Dangerous, UN Warns
T
he United Nations has warned Nigeria not to embark 0 1} grandiose economic plans that are not budgeted for ' stressing that operating the nation's economy like that wi ll take away the advantage, which the country derives from its massive human and material endowments. Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General , Prof. Jeffery Sachs gave the hint in Lagos while address ing a forum of key public and private sector players in the country. "Do not emulate the United States where we路 make big
By Crusoe Osagie plans without budgeting which has left us with huge deficits over the years. You must implement your national budget with a plan. Integrating plans with budgets and putting it together in a Medium Term Frame Work is a sine qua non of deve lopment;' Sachs said . The United Na tion's envoy advised the nation's economic managers not to try to budget for the development of the entire needed infrastructure in the country; instead , he encouraged the government to take advan tage of fund s from
foreign capital markets. While declaring
that
Nigeria will be one of the most important nations in the world in the 2 1st century, he advised-.路 that leaders of th e country must ensure that sustainable development
with
serious
atte ntion paid to the sanctity of the environment and ecology is the watch word. "Please remember that cli-
mate change is real. it is coming and adds to the fragility. So, do not press against the limits of the ecology;' the UN envoy warned. He explained that the coming decade wi ll be Nigeria's greatest decade when the country would be the fastest growing economy in
'Global Grain Demand to Rise by 48%'
G
lobal demand for major grains, such as maize, rice, and wheat, is projected to . increase by nearly 48 per cent from 2000-2025 and by 70 percent.between 2000 and 2050, according to research presented by Mark Rose~t , who delivered the Agric Economic Fomm Keynote during the 20 I I Agric Innovation Showcase held in St. Louis. Rosegrant, Director of . Environment and ProducLion Technology at the International Food Policy Research Institute ' (lFPRl) added that. per capita meat consumption will also increase in many developing regions of the world and it will I
more than double in SubSaharan AfriC,1 from 2000-2050, leading to a doubling of total meat consumption by 2050. The repprt stressed thal at the same time, the growth in production of staple foods is expected to decline significanuy in most of the wOrld ifbusiness continues as usual. "Climate change, high and volatile food and energy prices, population and income growth, changing diets, and incremied urbanization will pUi intense pressure on land and water and challenge global food security as never before:' said Rosegmnt. "If agricultul~ production and policymaking continues down. its
present course, there could be severe consequences for many poor people in developing countries:' Using state-of-the-art economic modelling ba,ed on alternative future scenarios for agriculturrd supply and demand thut take into account the potential harmful impact of climate change, lFPRl projectS crop yields, food prices. ,md child malnutrition through 2050 and beyond. Even without climate change, the pliL-es of rice, maize, and wheat are projected to increase by 25 per cent, 48 per cent, cUld 75 per cent, respectively, by 2050, in a business-as-usual scenario.
the world. Listing the ingred ients . which Nigeria requires to attain its potential as one of the major economies of the worl d. he said there was serious need for planning. He said the nation and leaders of the p.fivate and public sectors must plan effectively and not surrender the fate of the nation's economy to mere market forces. ' . Sachs also ideniif,ied imee.rated urban and rural development which he said will lead to infrastructure enhancement, human capital deve lopment. job creation and therefore the overall developme nt oflhe nation's economy. He also called for a narional scale infmstructure development in the areas of road, power rail. --You need a full mil network [0 fre ight goods and people in order to be able to take advantage of you size as a big country," he stressed. Maternal health and fami ly planning was also identified as .a step which the country needs to take to conquer its odds and lh:come a leading mu ioll in the global economy. He said the nation needs to understand thaI serious plan~ ning woul d be required to manage a country whose current populatioll is estimated to be about 158 million people and projected to rise to 158 million in 2030; 390 mi llion in 2050 and 730 million in the year 2 100.
Rinderpest Cattle Disease Exterminated, Says FAO
T
he n"tional Delegates of Members of the World Organisalion for Animal Health (OlE) have declared that rinderpest, one of the deadliest diseases of cattle and of several other animal species. is now emdicated from the surface of the eardl. At the organisation's 79th annual Geneml Session in Paris, France the national Delegates of OlE Members unanimously adopted Resolution 18120 II which officially recognised, following thorough control by the OlE Wi U, the support of FAO, that all 198 countries and territories with rinderpest-susceptible anima1s in the world are free of the disease. A three-stage . "OlE Rinderpest Pathway" for counnies to be officiall y recognised
as free from the disease by Ule OlE was initially launched in 1989 and in 1994, implemented in parallel with the Global Rinderpest Eradication Progmmme (GREP) managed by the FAO in collaboration with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (lAEA). In February 20 I I, OlE experts in charge of recommending free status recognition in the ITameworl< of the OlE Pathway gave the green light for recognising the free status of the last eight countries not yet recognised. Using considerable sUPPOI1 to eligible countries from donolS such as the European Union, . these international cooperntion and coordination mechanisms _have been key to move towards global eradication pruticuJarly in p?0rest countries.
Eagles Coach, Samsoll Siasia, Area Africa and Indian Oeeall /sllmds for MOl'lerCard Worldwide Chief Daniel Laure Mouehi" and former Super Eagles Striker, Victor lkpeba, during the MasterCard sponsored public screeni"g for Ihe UEFA Cilampiollsfinals behvelm Barcelona and Manchester United, held at MasterCard Lounge, Eko Holel Lagos ... rt!L'~IlI{~'