NIRSAL, other stakeholders move to curb PHL

Farmland

As part of efforts aimed at curbing the menace of post-harvest losses in the country, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) is collaborating with other major stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector to build a model.

OFAB in partnership with Alliance for Science Premiers Food Evolution Movie

OFAB in partnership with Alliance for Science Premiers Food Evolution Movie

OFAB in partnership with Alliance for Science Premiers Food Evolution Movie in Silver bird Cinema Abuja, 2:00pm today 27th September 2018.

FG Plans to exploit $500 billion bee market

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has assured that the Ministry will work to exploit the $500 billion bee market, while admitting that Nigeria is lingering behind in beekeeping cultivating.

Marine aquaculture and the need to protect global food security

Marine aquaculture 

Many of the world's future farmers will likely be farming oceans, as aquaculture -- the cultivation of fish and other aquatic species -- continues its expansion as the fastest growing food sector. New research shows that in order for this next generation of farmers to thrive, there is an urgent need to prepare them for climate change.

Climate change projected to boost insect activity and crop loss, researchers say

Symptom of stem borer on corn cause by Ostrinia furnacalis.

Scientists have already warned that climate change likely will impact the food we grow. From rising global temperatures to more frequent "extreme" weather events like droughts and floods, climate change is expected to negatively affect our ability to produce food for a growing human population.

Evidence of 7,200-year-old cheese-making found on the Dalmatian Coast

The archaeological site of Pokrovnik during excavation with the modern village, Dalmatia, Croatia.

Analysis of fatty residue in pottery from the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia revealed evidence of fermented dairy products -- soft cheeses and yogurts -- from about 7,200 years ago, according to an international team of researchers.

Kharif sowing rises to 76 lakh hectare

cotton

Kharif sowing in the state is pegged at 75.95 lakh hectare as on August 27, according to a data of the state director of agriculture. Farmers say the recent spell of rains has saved the day, but another spell will be soon needed to ensure that there is no damage to the crops.

Earlier than anticipated onset of El Nino could impinge on September rains

farmland

Defying expectations of a revival, southwest monsoon yet again recorded a less than historical performance in the month of August, at 93% of long period average (LPA). Rainfall activity has been in a deficit in all the three months of the season, so far.

An alternative to controversial pesticides still harms bumblebees

alternative to controversial pesticides still harms bumblebees

Exposure to a sulfoximine-based pesticide has substantial adverse effects on bumblebee colonies. This finding suggests that concerns over the risks of exposing bees to insecticides should not be limited to neonicotinoids.

Images speak @ the ongoing training on Agricultural production and processing economics held in Abuja by the Green Innovation Centre for the Agriculture and Food Sector- Nigeria (GIZ)

Images speak @ the ongoing training on Agricultural production and processing economics held in Abuja by the Green Innovation Centre for the Agriculture and Food Sector- Nigeria (GIZ)

Images @Fadama 111 AF Award of Excellence, Sept 17, 2018.

Images  @Fadama 111 AF Award of Excellence, Sept 17, 2018.

The National Fadama 111 Additional Financing (AF) yesterday came together as a family to celebrate themselves for possible impact they have rendered to the nation’s food security through direct impactation to grassroots farmers with best agronomics practices of production, processing and packaging towards both local and external markets, thereby ensuring the Federal Government New Agricultural policy of commercialization to checkmate food import and create jobs.

Global vegetable supply could plummet by more than a third due to climate change, says study

Crop yields will be affected by rising temperatures and water shortages

Key ingredients of a healthy diet predicted to become scarcer. The world's supply of vegetables could fall by more than a third by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to combat climate change, according to a new study.

PRESS RELEASE BY THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE CORPORATION (NAIC) ON THE ON-GOING FLOOD DAMAGES TO AGRICULTURAL FARMS IN VARIOUS STATES OF THE COUNTRY

 left: Special Assistant to Managing Director, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Funsho Olumoko; Deputy General Manager, Technical, Kunle Martins; Managing Director, Folashade Joseph; Executive Director, Finance/Admin., Philip Ashinze and Deputy General Manager, Legal, Chike Okafor at the event.

PRESS RELEASE BY THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE CORPORATION (NAIC) ON THE ON-GOING FLOOD DAMAGES TO AGRICULTURAL FARMS IN VARIOUS STATES OF THE COUNTRY

In view of the recent flood disaster across the country, the Board and management of Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) wishes to sympathize and assure its insured farmers and farmer groups, in the various States, being ravished by floods, that the Corporation is very mindful of its corporate responsibility to give them relief and plough them back to prosperity through the prompt payment of appropriate compensations.

'Super crops' could revolutionize agriculture in Africa, expert claims

Zambia, one of the continent’s most fertile countries produces a wide range of foods including maize, rice, millet, sorghum, and sweet potatoes 

Super crops have the potential to revolutionize agriculture in Africa, a leading expert has claimed.

Beekeeping can earn Nigeria multi-million dollars annually —Agric official

Beekeeping 

Beekeeping if harnessed properly is capable of boosting Nigeria’s economy to the tune of multi-million dollars as profit annually.

Irish government using wrong data to downplay greenhouse gas emissions from cows

Ireland's dairy herd has been increasing in recent years, and so have the levels of climate change-inducing gases emitted by the cows ( Getty Images )

National Trust for Ireland accuses environmental ministers of 'misleading' public about climate impact of Ireland's growing dairy herd.

Global hunger continues to rise, new UN report says

Global hunger 

* 821 million people now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting hunger eradication goal at risk.

New evidence continues to signal that the number of hungry people in the world is growing, reaching 821 million in 2017 or one in every nine people, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 released today.

Is this West Virginia farming community the model for a utopian way of life?

farmer

If one family can't maintain a farm of 300 acres then maybe multiple families can... and so communal farming is born again in Berkeley, where 11 families living on common land are trialling a new way to preserve rural America.

Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but profoundly changed Earth's climate

Ox

Millennia ago, ancient farmers cleared land to plant wheat and maize, potatoes and squash. They flooded fields to grow rice. They began to raise livestock. And unknowingly, they may have been fundamentally altering the climate of Earth.

India must ditch rice to feed growing population, scientists warn

India must ditch rice to feed growing population, scientists warn

Conventional crops use too much water and do not provide enough nutrients. India must shift from growing mainly rice and wheat to other crops that are healthier and better for the environment, according to new research.

Australia's drought: The cancer eating away at farms

drought

The worst drought in living memory is sweeping parts of eastern Australia, leaving farmers struggling to cope and asking questions about the future.

The tragic story of the sea that disappeared

The tragic story of the sea that disappeared

World's once fourth largest inland body of water is now a graveyard for its former ships – and its loss is not only being felt in the local fishing industry but it’s also spawned a grim array of health problems

A quality seed, key to food security says Professor Iritwange

Professor Simon Iritwange is the Acting President Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (YFPMAN) and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue state. 

Professor Simon Iritwange is the Acting President Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (YFPMAN) and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue state.  He strongly believes that the availability of quality seeds and seedlings are not only necessary but crucial to the enhancement of the nation’s agricultural growth. Read his Excerpts below with Seun Ayeni at Kaduna Perl meeting.

Gene study pinpoints superbug link between people and animals

Gene

Scientists have shed light on how a major cause of human and animal disease can jump between species, by studying its genes.

Study shows EU pesticide ban failing to protect suburban bees

bees

Bees living in suburban habitats are still being exposed to significant levels of pesticides despite the EU ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on flowering crops, new research from University of Sussex scientists shows.

Agricultural and urban habitat drive long-term bird population changes

Chipping Sparrows are among the species that expanded in Illinois during the 20th century by making increased use of urban habitat.

Land use changes are a major driver of species declines, but in addition to the habitat to which they're best adapted, many bird species use "alternative" habitats such as urban and agricultural land.

PRESS RELEASE- ON THE UNVEILING THE NEWLY LICENSED 158 SEED ENTREPRENEURS, BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SEEDS COUNCIL, DR. PHILLIP OLUSEGUN OJO.

The Director General of NASC on Black cap and others during a press conference

With great pleasure I welcome the members of the press once again to the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) headquarters. I wish to state emphatically that our relationship as partners in progress has been yielding great dividends for the country, especially in spreading the news of the seed industry in a balanced way.

Images speak at the National Agricultural Seed Council new molecular diagnosis testing facility at NASC Headquarters

the Director General NASC in black cap, Dr. Philip Olusegun Ojo. and Mrs. Tolulope Mewase handling one of the portable machines

Images speak at the  National Agricultural Seed Council new molecular diagnostic testing facility at NASC Headquarters

Unwrapping the brewing secrets of barley

barley grains.

University of Adelaide researchers have uncovered fundamental new information about the malting characteristics of barley grains.

Chief Audu Ogbeh flags- off Ceremony of erosion prone, farm connected market roads and rehabilitation of degraded rangeland, cutting across 7 states in the Savannah Belt of the country.

The Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh

The Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh during a visit to Madobi village in Katsina State performed the flags- off Ceremony of erosion prone, farm connected market roads and rehabilitation of degraded rangeland, cutting across 7 states in the Savannah Belt of the country.

News Release- WFP distributes 7,000 fuel-efficient stoves to improve the lives of displaced women in Banki

WFP staff member Mustapha Tanko handing over a stove to Mrs Ali during the distribution of over 7000 cook stoves in Banki 

The World Food Programme (WFP), together with its partner INTERSOS, has distributed fuel-efficient stoves to 7,340 displaced families receiving WFP food assistance in the town of Banki, in Nigeria’s Borno state. The stoves distribution is an effort to improve people’s quality of life and reduce the protection risks faced by women and girls in particular, when they have to gather firewood from unsafe areas.

We can feed the world if we change our ways

Farmers

Current crop yields could provide nutritious food for the projected 2050 global population, but only if we make radical changes to our dietary choices, a new study shows.

Fertilizer destroys plant microbiome's ability to protect against disease

A growth chamber packed with tomato plants sprayed with bacteria to simulate different leaf microbiomes and then challenged with a plant pathogen to measure how well the microbiomes protect the plant from disease.

A new study of the role microbial communities play on the leaves of plants suggests that fertilizing crops may make them more susceptible to disease.

Rice with fewer stomata requires less water and is better suited for climate change

Rice

Rice plants engineered to have fewer stomata -- tiny openings used for gas exchange -- are more tolerant to drought and resilient to future climate change, a new study has revealed.

New geometric shape used by nature to pack cells efficiently

embryo 

As an embryo develops, tissues bend into complex three-dimensional shapes that lead to organs.

Aphids manipulate their food

Aphids manipulate their food

who hasn't been bothered by these little insects at one time or another? Why do they reproduce on plants so successfully? These are among the questions that Professor Dr Caroline Müller and her research team are addressing at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Biology.