Vanguard. MONDAY. OCTOBER 1.2012- 43
FinancialVanguard
Agric
AgrIc Yes program:
BRIEFS
Over 300 youths empowered In Lagos T
~e I.agos State iAgricolllure Youth
iB m powermeo t
Scheme, poP,ularJy known as .AgriC' I. YE~' aimed at empowttJing ,ouths., bas, far
empowlere qver three huodre:d youths with an addilional toe hundred parllcipants undergoing
training at the momenL
Co~ Officu forVegetab\e
Mr. Hokeem Anjolajya, wbo dJ.cJOSf-d this at the institute trilirng centre at Epe. said tb4t the overaIJ aun 01 the sdM!DI4' is to breed a new g~DeriUioD of agroenuepr,news inpoullly, fish farminm bee--leeping and all season e!V;!&h1e fanning. Anjol~ja sa.d the students
production and so on "We get our studentl through advertisement in the media alter that we conduct a test for them, we usually collec t 36 fe:maJe and 64 males for each batch of Itudent to sum up al 100 participants for a lenlon" he said. He further noled that after the traLnlng that the participants would be divided into co..operatives and each co--operative would be given tbe lum of Nl00million to
carry out their agricultural "",h",-
According to him, "apa.rt hom tbe N100million. tbe participanu were also given accommodation wbere they can live with their own fam.llies. We also have a fully automated layer pen where we generate 500 crates of eggs per day, people an coming to huy them and we move out as much that we can produce. We can't even meet the demand or the market now" Also lpeaking during
the chat, the Project Officer, Ram Ranch, Mr. Johnson O!uwuhola disd.OIed that the institute bas between 1,000 and 1,500 rams . He aplalned that the rams were brought into the farm at five months old where they were trained to maturity, stressing that though they were Dot involved in the breeding process of the rams, that the institute will loon embark on breeding at the ram ranch In the nearest Mure.
of the ilalitut.! normally go
lhroughnxmcntbs intensive training and also a period of internship befcre they are left on their' own hS full Hedged lanners. He explained that after the lr&.inin~. the government gives the DllrtlciplIOts money and $On Ie plots of land to:.!!~1t lhelD to go into m .zed ng riculture. "Sine 1 thl. programme started in 2009. we bave lra1ned~ut ~OO youths and we are ' the burth batch of trauung 100 of ..hem. We train them lD ullfl ramung, crop larmers fish 'armers meat
Bo.run Je/e, Honourable Commissioner for Houaing, Logo. State (2nd Right) recehrlng 0 gIft from Damilolo Awe 01 AM FaciliUea (Left) while Rulh Oblh, CEO, 3lnve&t Ud (2nd Len) and Nike AnJma.shoun (Righi), Director of Lo!JO$ Home Ownerahlp Mortgage Scheme look on. at the Real Estate Unite Exhibition organized by 3inve&t Ud in Lago.
Came1roon, IITA to step up efforts to improve the fortunes of farmers att.eroaH and the Improved and C ""tlcnallmUlUle 0' raised the lnstitule'. efforts Tropic Agri ulture (lITA) r,n combating crop pests and have reed 0 join forces maizevari~es
l It
more t an e er befoTe to improv agri J1twe, crea~e wealth Jc;e poverty m both rut and.uban areas The raJ trican country pledged .0 wo more clos4!ly with I ".. to tap the vast agricult aI lovations and techno! lies ith", view to Ihrink! g d ~a.p., and imp, 9P uct1Vily. The mer wan Minister of Agri uitur Mr. EISi.mi Menye reo Urmed hil country' d on during the (ow-da ,",1, f the Dtrector Gen r ift , Dr Nteranya Sanginml M .. *nY~COmmended lITA for II! I )port given to his coun ry ov the past years that has leen Improvements in the yield or :tops IUch 81
...
.,.,..
He alao> thallked lITA for providing hls country with
diseases The agricultute minister said he was impressed with rITA'1 cassava value addition efforts in Nigeria and would visit IITA'I headquarters In Jbadan. in the near future, to lee lor himlelf innovationl tbat could benefit his country. The Director General of IITA. Dr Nteranya Sanginga promised that UTA would continue to help grow Cameroonian agriculture in a manner that the country becomes II major player in Central Africa. He laid tbe Iwtitute'l new research agenda provided an opportunity lor Cameroon and othertro{JicaJ countries to tap innovations that would improve the livelihood. or lanners, eradicate poverty In the r~on and also tackle the growlng unemployment among youths.
According to him. the lnsUlule'1 new strategy offers more emphasis on r!!Search. capacity building and ttainin9' which are prereqw.ite for lustalnable agricultural developmen.t. AI the moment, gaps entJ 10 the productivity of many crops in Cameroon. For instance. local varieties 01 cassava have yieldl 01 less than 10 tOIll per hectare. comJ!ared witb improved varieties that offer up to 30 tOIll pet hectare. Between 2000 and 2010, IITA·improved varieties diueminaled to farmerl helped the country to raise production trom 1.9 million tons to 3 mill10D tons according to the Food and Agnculture Organization (FAO) . Dr Saogmga laid if tbe Ca.meroonian government and fITAltep up team eHorts and comnul more resources to agriculture, the country could realize more than the 3
m illion toni per annum
fig\UO. Supports to work with International agricultural r!!Searcb Institutes also came from the Mtnistry of Research and Scientific Innovations. The Permanent Secretary, Ms Ebfille £lame Rebecca, said lITA 'j .. a reliable partner' In !intt 'Ig lolutions to agricultural probleml. She said the ministry through the Institute of Agricultural Relearch for Development (IRAD) would continue to partner with lITA sucb that Cameroon becomes a food secured nation. The Mlruster for External Relationl, Mr. Plene Monkoko Mbonjo said that lhe 90vernment would prov! e support to UTA's Itation in Cameroon with a view to ensuring that the Itatlon lerves not jUlt Cameroon but also tbe whole of the Central African lub region.
FG to set agenda on fisheries at Indonesia he Federal Government bas reiterated its committed to strengthening value cbains of fisheries, livestock and oops as parts of strategies to reposition agricultural lector of the economy with a view to m.aJdng the sector as bUSlDess rather than a development prognun. The Permanent Secretary, m the Federal MiRlstry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr E%.ek.iel Oyeyomi stated this yesterday In Abuja at a meeting to outline Nigeria's position for the fisb and fisheries product slated for Bali, Indonesia. He sajd the ministry hu strengthened its quaUty assurance unit to support industrial fish trawUng and recently embarked on certification for aquacullwe industry. " The Permaneot Secretary said that the Nigeria's food safety systems have been receiving substantial InternaUooal attention of late specially with respect to the establlshmeot of a national food safety committee.
T
UNDP, Agrlc Ministry Collaborate On Training for Value Chain Uuee.day workshop 00 indusive markets eveJopment With a focus on vaJue cham 4lDled at bwldlng the ca.paoty of dvil servants and pnvale sector stakeholders in agncultwe ended 10 Abeokuta , Ogun stale during the week. The workshop, the fourth of the five-batch workshops meant to cover the country had the Permanent Secretary, Minisby of Agricultwe and Rural bevelopment, Dr. Ezekiel Oye.momi, represented by Dr. Tunji Oredipe, Senior Technical AsSistant to the Miruster. He said the workshop had "already taken place in Abuj&. 1I0rin and Calabar, and were. indeed, huge successes, "while the last two batches were orgilDLSed r Abeolruta and Enu~ . ., lie workshopl," be dilcios( • "have been fashioned out bv the Federal Ministry r Agriculture and RI, .. i Development In conjunction with the UNDP to fac::i.lJtate efficient and effecthe implementation of the 1.1 • going Agncultural Transformation Agenda. "
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