FG imports grass from Cameroon, spends N 96million on grazing reserves

grass

*NAPRI dissociate self from grass importation

Nigerians especially the farmers who have suffered farm destruction running to millions of naira occasioned by cattle searching for pastures have demanded to know the state of Federal Government’s effort in her insisted bid to import improved seed varieties for grasses multiplication to feed animals in the country.

Farmers and other stakeholders had queried the Federal Government’s position on the seeds importation when the idea was initially mentioned by the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh thereby wanting to know the real situation about the importation, planting and grazing reserves and water provision with windmills as appropriated in the 2016 budget with fund release.

Findings by FoodFarmNews revealed that FG government through her Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has fulfilled its import promise as it was gathered through the office of director of procurement in the Ministry that about N96 million contract worth has been awarded for grazing reserve grasses for animal pastures, even as there is a pending issue due to non-performance on the part of one of the two contractors which has recently led to the re award of the contract.

Further findings reveal that arbitrariness on the part of the former acting Director of the Animal and Husbandry Services has led to the wrongly award of a grazing grass contract without evidence of performance and without recourse to the mandated Research Institute for advice for a venture of this nature with enormous repercussion in case of any mistake in terms of disease to our land.

As against the importation from Brazil, our sources told us that the ones they have procured was imported from Cameroon and the second variety which is the main one is yet to be completed as the contract has been re-awarded thereby defeating the timely actualization of Mr. president dream to making provision for animal feeds to checkmate constant conflict between farmers and pastoral.

Meanwhile the National Animal Production and Research Institute (NAPRI) has distanced itself from the procurement saying there are no bases for it when compared with the availability of nutritious grass varieties in the Institute.

The head of the Unit, Feed and Nutrition, NAPRI, Prof. Joshua Taiwo Amodu told Food Farm News that there are enough grasses to feed the country’s livestock without embarking on importation as many states government have been coming to Institute to procure for their grazing reserves.

The senate committee on agriculture was one of the Institutions that strongly threw its weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to import grasses for grazing from Brazil even when many Nigerians felt otherwise.

FoodFarm News found that the 2016 appropriation Act has specified a total of N940.000.000.00 for “special grasses along the stock routes and development of strategic grazing reserves including provision for boreholes with windmills specification, and community mobilization and advocacy, registration of sedentary and mobile animals and epidemiological zone”

Out of this amount about N96 million has been so far expended on the procurement of the grass seeds and contract for planting the seeds in the grazing reserves.