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*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.
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