26-Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012
Business/Agriculture Global meat production, consumption slow down
Mitigation to f"1"""".A change: C sef1uestr Tt-1[
CRAWFORD fUND
For a Food
lVorld
IITA proffers recipe to food insecurity STO RI ES BY JlMOIl
BABATUNOE
ood security in Africa wLiI remalll elusive with isolated successes. fu e Uing a sense of false optimism in an otherwise dismal situation unless decisive actions are taken 10 assist small-scale fanners 10 grow more and more valuable crops. according to the Director General of the Inlernational lnslltule of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sangmga. Addressing participants al the Crawford Fund annual conference in Australia, Dr Sanginga noted that in spite of the progress made in c rop improvement. low soil fertility and nutrient depletion continue 10 present huge obstacles to securing the needed harvests. The Director General ' s position Is supported by recent studies by lITA in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa that show that majority of the soLis m that region are now barren witb very little fertility. The barren soils are a result of years of mJ.DJJlg and insufficient replacement of nutrients by smallholder farmers , mostly pra cticing low-input agricu1ture. Dr Sanginga suggested the adopLion of Integrated Soil Fertility Managemen1(ISFMl which is defined as 'the application of soil lertility management practices, and the knowledge to adapt these to local conditions , whi c h optimize fertilizer and organic resource use efficiency and crop productivity.' ISFM is also the topic of an ongoing international conference in Nairobi , Kenya , where the Institute's natural resourc e management specialists and
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experts, induding the DG, are auending . DrSanginga said that ISFM presented a means to overcome the dilemmil of low productiVity, by offering farmers better returns for investment in fertilizer, through its combination with
indigenous agro -mlllerais and available organic resources. He , however, pointed out that disseminating the knowledge of ISFM and developing incentives lor Its adoption now stand as a challenge for national
planners and rural development specialists, and if done effi c iently would resulL in more productive aud sustainable agri c ulture, improved household and regional food sec unty, and increased inc omes amo ng small -scale fanners
Farmers get free cocoa pods from agric ministry A strategiC conslderallon in J-\ilie transformation of Ule cocoa sector involving the use of improved genetic stocks (newly released CRINc l 8 , WACRI t t Hybrids & F3 Amazonl and phas e d replacement 01 old unproductive stocks with new high yielding stocks got a boost last week at Owena, near Akure in Dndo State . nus was during the offic ial Oag-off 01 the free dlStnbution of unproved hybrid varieties of cocoa pods to fanne r.; in the south west to plant and LDc rease their fann sizes. lb stop further use of poor yielding and old varieties and systematically replace the lree sLocks in Nigeria . the mmister, in a speech read 011 his behalf by Dr. Julius Odeyemi , the south west regionaJ director to ministry, " we have engaged specialised seed production Units al Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria . Tree Crops Units of Ondo, Osun ana Ek.ill States to produce 3.6 million hybrid pods lhat will be given to cocoa farmers . This has the potentials of raIsing the current production on farms
lobal meal production rose to 297 million tons m 20 II , an increase of 0.8 perrenlover 2010 levels , and is projected to reac h 302 million tons by Ule end 01 1012, a ccording to new research conducted by the Worldwat c h Institute 's Nourishing the Plane. By compa riso n . meat production rose 2.Gpercent in 20 I 0 and has risen 20 percent since 200 I . Record drought In th e U .S Midwest, animal disease outbreaks, and rising prices of livestock feed aU contributed to 2011 and 2012's lower rise in production , write report authors Danlelle Nierenberg and Laura Reynolds. Also bucking a decadeslong trend, meat cODJiumption decreased slighUy worldwide in 20 II, from 42.5 kUograms (kg) per person in 2010 to 42.3 kg. Since 1995, however, per capita meat consumption has increased 15 percent overaU: in developing countries. it increased 25 percent during this time, whereas in industrialized countries itlDcreased just 2 percent. Although the disparity between meat consumption in developing and industrialized countries is shrinking, it remains hIgh: the average person in a developing country ate 32 .3 kg of meat In 2011 , whereas in Industrialized countries people ate 78 .9 kg on average. Pork was the most popular meat in 2011 , attOunting for 37 percent of both meat production and consumption, al 109 million tons . This was foUowed dosely by poultry meat, with 10 1 million Ions produced . Yet pork production decreased 0.8 percent born 2010, whereas poultry meat production rose 3 percent, making it likely that poultry wUl become the most-produced meat in the next few yedIS_ A breakdown of rueal production by geographic region reveals Uledramatic shift in centers of production from industrialized to developing countries over the lasldecade. ln 2000, for example, North America led tbe world in beef production, at 13 million tons, while South America produced 12 million tons and Asia, 10 million tons.
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from 350 kglha to 1.000 kglha and also reducing lime to maturity from five years to 24 30 months of held establishment. .. The minister expressed the hope that, "as we nag off free distribution of lhese selected hybrid pods today. these will be useful 10 re-position cocoa as a veritable and substantial foreign exchange earning commodity, c reating jobs, wealth and prosperity for our fannen; , traders. warehouse merchants, processors and exporters, state governments and the nation as a whole.' ocoa agribuslOess, he pointed out, :" must be auractive to the youU15 in both operatIOn and WeaJUl creation. We must harness our resources to playsignlficanUy LlI tbeglobal market. First we are focusing on maxlmlZlng Yield per unit land area on Ule current 650,000 ha of active plantation through efficient use of critical inputs like agrochemicals, fertiliser and good agricultural practices. lb this end . the customized Cocoa-Growth Enhancement Support Program (Cocoa -
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GES) is berng implemented ." In partnership with the private sector, he added, the government is supporting the most vulnerable c o coa farmers ' a c cess to crit1cal yield-enhancing mputs. lOur goal is to leve.rage Cocoa GES to lilt these farmers out of the trap of poverty and set Ihem on the path to be come sustainable commercial farmers . The targeted support provided through the Cocoa GES pr09ram includes a discount of 50 % off Ule cost of these crilicallnputs {ll 200 sachets of approved fungicides , (2) five 50kg bags of NPK 20: 10: 10 fertilizer with 5 kg Agrolyser and (3l 50 sachets 01 insecticides. This translates inlo N43 ,000 .00 in support to the most vulnerable cocoa farmer.; ." He unders c ored the response of the government thus; "One main goal for the Nigerian Cocoa induslry IS Simple, Double production to 500 ,000 MT by 2015 To a ccomplish thiS, the Cocoa Transformation Team has developed a thre e -prong M .R. E Strategy: MaxlIUJse, Rehabilildte and Expand.