lJO- Vangua rd, MONDAy' JUNE 27, 2011
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8 iJJ A- .iU pa rt 01 moves to ,-)jI"!: r l!llIl! 'he po tenti a l ~ ''''.~!f1 cf th e c o u nt r y, th e - ·,·Id E"'lk d1i;dosed w e ek-::"'ulhH r .... nl h ~xl! been con "~"'e,i to .:leCI $:! 185 m illie n J. !- ':jne:ie F!lc!alnll ploJec t. ,~( Ics.ng thl~ · .. hen h e paid ~s': it 'Il e Pe!'n anent Se crl!··-:~ ' a ! Cr:plt al Territory "l!l' IHu tiol1 , FCIA. Dr. Bio.'llItnf'lleI Olorunfemi , lhe l; -~"' n L" Ide r, Ni al! rj,! ""'-" t E . !::_ Abimbola "b! ""'ed Ihn- U·~ ...· were in "'0;- : .-n .. ' 0 m--:n·t:: r·!.ad :see . pIO~:tf :tll' e lare d und er ..;)P.t·l,. 111 T. ___dubl rI!H'!ll ed that they ~- '! dis" ,'ere te l UeS! the stan_ .. Iud -;f we rk dO'l e and Inte ract "j l h the h en ehci aries all th e "!'rld- Ban k. pla ns to inn eue grant to !'"ig e n a T HE Federal Capital Terrltor,/ Admm il tr&,tl0n. FCTA r e · "ealed th at Abu]a has a fa rm· in g lamily popula t ion o f 93 .092. jus t lIS it vowe d to encourtl g e and support the farlll'
FadlllPIf1 III
'"Speoon,} in Ahuja w h e n he r e.cei v ed membe rs of t he
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pe nision MIssion of FADAlI.-IA III in North Cenlral Zone. thl! Pe rm ll n ent Secrl! tary, FC TA, Dr. Biod un Nath a n iel D locun femi 5u esIled th at the FCT Ad· minis t rol i i o n woul d p r ovid l! !gecla l ! UP pOrl for the s us tain· .!oilin' of FADAl. lA I and II In th e A~rl cu lt ural and Rural De "-elop-me nt stat u t ory bu.dget ilne. Re pre5ented by the Dilector of ::'cono mlc Plan l"J ng, Research &. S tatu tic s, lIa Ali M oham med , the Permanen t Secreta ry who n oted th a t the Ad mi nis tra· tio n has fu lly met its financi a l obli g a llon th ro ug h Ihe pay · men t of co un terptl rt fund as a t whe n d ue slIlce the inception of the project to date, s tressed tha t the FCT· FADAMA C oordi n a tion office enjoys full a utonomy as e ns hri ned in the project
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dlsbu ft'es over $2.3m lmdor
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'NlJflona/Coorolna l oro{ FADA'UA (fI, Mr. Dl/karT/janl
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Nigeria Fadama project to get $4.185 million from World Bank ,.. as FCT has over 93,000 farming family population docu men ts an d the leg allns trumen ts for eff ecti ve Implementa tion and c oordination . According to hIm , these h ave tr a ns la ted into pos itive i mpact on the growth and deve lopment 01 ou r e conomy, e specially in the Agric ulture, Educ a tion a nd
H ealth sectors. H e sai d tha t th e FCT FAD · AMA C oord i n i!ltlon offi ce whi ch wa s cons titu ted in April 2009 10 oversee th e imple ment a tion 01 the FADAMA I II Proj ect in th e FCT; enjoys th e support 01 the FCT Administra-
li on w h ich has I! n a bled it to perlorm and deliver on its man d .. te of d eliveri n g th e di vidends of FADAMA IfI grants and rl!s ources to alle vii!lte pov e rt y, g e n erate employm l! nt a nd e m· power the rur a l agrari an populace of the FeT.
past two y~.m; under the Fadama III pro gramm .. a11 olh .... " 1 ribclos et:. A1h aji Tijjtl!!i Maklh:~. th e CommiSSion", eer Aancultute . disclosl!d this in Yola \~-nill! bnelIng offioals cf the Wo rld Bank Supervisio n Mis s i on wh o vi sited the s late M a...loi h a s'lld that the amou nt rep resen ted 63 pl!r cl!nt of the S4 . 1 million a ll ocated to the stal e under the programme. H e laid tbal s ince Ibl! commencement of th e p rogramme i n August 2009, a t o ta l of 15 8 Fada ma Commu nity Associall o ns (FeAs) h ad been e5tabllshed. You ths in the state have been provi d ed e m ploy ol en t 6pportu l1lll es as It Is ....ith the case of Make t a Yo ut h Blac ksmiths Fad ama use r G ro u p (F U G ) w ho a re i n to la brl c a ti o n o f .. gri c ul tu ral i m pl e men ts." he s aid. According to hi m. the gro up, w h ich started wi th 5 3 me mbers ti t ince ption. now h tU over 132 members . I n his r e mruks, Prof Ad e jo Odoh , tb l! l ead e r of the 3upervision team, commende d t h e govern m e n t lo r its com m i tm e n t to t he F ada ma progra m me.
eTA holds international conference on extension services
Putting·nature back into agriculture, as FAO h e Tec hn i c al Ce n tre lor T Agricultura l a nd Rur a l C oope ra t ion ICTA) a nd its launches save & grow farming model partners org a n ise a n interna tional conlerencl! e ntitled Innovations i n u te nslon and e nri c hing l e gumes . by trials with maize h eld recentAD h as a nnounced the yi elds and inves t the sa vings Ad v is ory S l!rvi ces : Li n ki ng Precis ion larming F launch of a major n ew ly sou thern Africa. Average their h e alth and education. Knowledge to and Action in itiative Inte n ded to produce O ther techniques developed yields from lanns practicing the will
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more food for a growing world popul a t i on in an en vironme nta lly s ustainable way. FAD's call lor sus tainable ClOp production Intensifi cation, mo re than b a ll a century after t he Gleen Revolu tion 01 the 19601, is contained In a ne w book. &nor and Grow publish ed by FAO's Plant Production a nd Protection Division . Smallholder I .. rmers The new a ppro ach calls lor targeting ma inly smallholder fanners-in developing counlrlelli. Helping low-I n c ome far m families In developing counlrles Isome 2.5 billion peopll!), economize on cos t of p roduction and build healtby agIo-ecosystems will enable them to maximize
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Grl!en Revo lution technology l aved an estimated one billion peopl e from fa mine and produc e d more than e nough food for a world popula tion that doubled from three to lix billion between 1960 and 2000.
New mille nnium However. the present paradigm 01 i ntensi v e crop produ ction c annot mel!t thl! challenges 01 the new millennium. In order to grow, agriculture mus t learn to ~v~
The S ave and G row approach dr aws partly on conservation agricu lture (C Al techn i ques which do away with or minimize ploughing and tilling , thus preselVlng soli Itructure and health. Plant residues provide cover over fields and cerl!als cultivation is rotated with foi l-
by FAa and its partners over th e pas t several years as part 01 the Save and Grow toolkit include precision irrigation, which de· \lvl!rs more crop for the drop, and "precision p lacl!ment" of fe rtilize rs, which can double th e amount of nutrlent:s ab· s orbed by plan ts. Integrated pest man tlgement, whosl! techniquell discourag'e the development of pest populations and minimizes the nl!ed for pesticides, Is yet another key e lement. Such ml!tbods help a dapt crops to clima te change and not only help grow more lood but also conlrlbule to reducing crops ' water needs by 30 pl!rcent and energy costs by up to 50 percent. In some cuel crop yields can be increased six-fold, as shown
te chniqul!s in 57 low- income countries Incleased almost 8 0 percent. according to one review. Ecosystems app roach The S ave and G row model incor por al1!5 an ecos ys te m approach that draws on nature's contribution to ClOp Q"Towth , soil organic matter. water now rl!gulaHon , pollination and natural predation of pests. It applies external Inputs at the right time lind In the rl gbt amount 1 no more and no less than planls need . The a pproach bul lds on lessons learned from the Green Revolution of the 19 60s which focused on rai s ing Clop production without much attention to thl! environment.
Policy lor Food and UveUhood.s 01 110m 151 18 Novem ber 201 1. The event, which takes fl ace in N ai robi , Keny a , w il bring together farmers and some 01 th l! world's leading thinkers, policy maken, extension practi tioners, res e a r che rs , d eve l opment experts. tlcademla. donors and the medi a. T h e con fe ren cl! Is aimed at sharing knowledge of best pl a ctices, a nd building coalitions of va rious d evelopment a ctors to a dvoc ate policy reforms and Innovations in e,;tl! nslon a nd a d v i s ory services. The conlcrence will addr ess four thl!mes : policy ch alle ngel in agricultural extension, capacity d evl!lopment, modem tools and approaches lor d l! lIv e rlng e:lttension services, and learning networks lor fo s te ring continuous innovation in extension.