COVID-19: AFAN leader says farmers’ restriction is a threat to food security

• Identify Architect Kabir as leader

Nigerian farmers have expressed dissatisfaction over the Presidential speech that did not include its members among the professionals that are allowed to move about for their roles in food production, saying this was an invitation to food insecurity.

Cassava: NEPC wants export as CBN promises finance

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) boss Mr. Segun Awolowo has emphasized the need for more export of cassava derivatives to achieving more economic earnings for the country, even as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now set to finance the development of the crop value chains with loan supports.

Cat food mystery foils diet study

A study that set out to measure how much wildlife domestic cats eat to supplement the food they are given by their owners was unsuccessful due to an unexpectedly high variability in cat food ingredients. This accidental discovery suggests that some cat food manufacturers regularly change ingredient composition, even within the same flavors of cat food.

Kwara gives 50,000 cocoa hybrid to farmers, promises addressing challenges

The Kwara State Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq has given cocoa farmers 50,000 early maturing hybrid seedlings to galvanize its production just as the Government is determined to address all the challenges facing the crop.

Big data helps farmers adapt to climate variability

A new Michigan State University study shines a light on how big data and digital technologies can help farmers better adapt to threats -- both present and future -- from a changing climate.

Covid-19: food security threatened

*Farmers alerted

As the global novel COVID-19 virus spreads to six states in Nigeria, with fear that the infection could get worse, highly-placed stakeholders in the agricultural sector have said that food security would be threatened in the country, just as they had also alerted farmers on the need to take precautionary safety measures that would prevent them from being infected by the virus.

‘Bakers to pay N2.0m for breach of hygiene code’

Bakers are now to pay the sum of two million naira for any breach of hygiene regulations in the bakeries and other confectionaries.

Unexpected ways animals influence fires

Animals eating plants might seem like an obvious way to suppress fire, and humans are already using the enormous appetites of goats, deer, and cows to reduce the fuel available for potential wildfires.

Plateau set to host 44th National Council meeting on Agriculture.

The year 2020 National Council on Agricultural and Rural Development (NCARD) will take place in Plateau state between 20th to 24th April as stakeholders in the sector from all the federation are expected to converge for the purpose of giving approvals to  paper of memorandum for the year food security and commercialization implementation.

Press Release: LAGOS/OGUN NIGERIAN COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT (NICOP) FOR TOMATO, PEPPER, CHILLI, GARMENT AND LEATHER VALUE CHAINS OF THE GERMAN AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (GIZ) IN COLLABORATION WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED.

The Regional Nigeria Competitiveness Project (NICOP) under the West Africa Competitiveness Programme for Lagos and Ogun States in the tomato, pepper, chilli, ginger, garment and leather value chains has been officially launched by Governor Dapo Abiodun in Abeokuta in Ogun state.

Cassava cottage: BOI, FMARD traded words over N2.4B payment

The Bank of Industry (BOI) and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD)  engaged on blaming game over none payment of about N2.1 Billion Naira counterpart funding for the completion of cassava cottage processing factories initiated by  the Federal Government (FG) in 2013. Many of the individuals who have paid Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500.000.00) Counterpart fund towards the construction of the processing factories are yet to be paid since 2013 by the Bank of Industry (BOI).

FG TO ESTABLISH AGRICULTURAL PARKS

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in partnership with a private organization will begin to establish Agricultural Industrial parks (AIPs) across the six geo-political zones in the country. This was contained in a press statement issued by the ministry.

Sen. Adamu advocates internally generated seeds

The chairman, Senate committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu has emphasised the need for more locally made improved seeds saying a bill towards this would soon be passed. He made this remark in a press statement made available.  

Nigerian Sorghum set for export says ICRISAT representative

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Hakeem Ajeigbe has said that Nigerian sorghum will soon be exported outside the country even as the demands for the produce increased locally. This was disclosed during a visit to Dr. Ajeigbe’s office.

Tomato: Dangote may sabotage 2020 farming season says Association Secretary

The National Secretary, Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sanni Danladi has said that the 2020 tomato farming season may not be visible as the management of Dangote Tomato processing factory is yet to provide farmers with seedlings for six thousand  hectares, even as fund has been made available by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Agric Minister to embark on zonal visit, says Technical Adviser

·       Emphasizes  mechanization for reduction cost

In his bid to get the grass root stakeholders’ view and contributions to national agricultural development plan, the Minister of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono has scheduled to visit all the six geopolitical zones in the country.

FG, OIE begin strategic plan for Vet. Services

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria through its department of Veterinary services in Partnership with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has begun strategic plan development that will enhance animal health and productivity. This was gathered during a 3 day workshop held in Abuja.

Herd immunity: Disease transmission from wildlife to livestock

Transmission of diseases from wildlife to livestock is a common threat in Alberta, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. Foothills in the southwestern part of the province are home to wild elk as well as cattle on ranchlands -- and when the species intermingle, the potential for disease to spread grows.

Images speak @ the ongoing three days PVS Strategic Planning Workshop for Nigeria, held in Abuja

Images speak @ the ongoing three days PVS  Strategic Planning Workshop for Nigeria, held in Abuja See more images below.

Consumers may be wasting more than twice as much food as commonly believed

Consumers are likely wasting much more food than commonly believed, according to a study published February 12, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Monika van den Bos Verma and colleagues from Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.

Earth formed much faster than previously thought, new study shows

The precursor of our planet, the proto-Earth, formed within a time span of approximately five million years, shows a new study from the Centre for Star and Planet Formation (StarPlan) at the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

Discovery at 'flower burial' site could unravel mystery of Neanderthal death rites

The first articulated Neanderthal skeleton to come out of the ground for over 20 years has been unearthed at one of the most important sites of mid-20th century archaeology: Shanidar Cave, in the foothills of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Pix @ 2 Day 4th Cassava Cottage Processing & Marketing Association (CACOPMA ) AGM meeting just concluded today 6th March at IAR&I Ibadan.

Pix @ 2 Day 4th Cassava Cottage Processing & Marketing Association (CACOPMA ) AGM meeting just concluded today 6th March at IAR&I Ibadan. see more images below..

Boost soybean yields by adapting photosynthesis to fleeting shadows, according to model

Komorebi is a Japanese word that describes how light filters through leaves -- creating shifting, dappled "sunflecks" that illustrate plants' ever-changing light environment.

Insect bites and warmer climate means double-trouble for plants

Recent models are telling us that, as our climate warms up, herbivores and pests will cause increased damage to agricultural crops. One study predicted that crop yield lost to insects increases 10 to 25 percent for every 1 degree Celsius increase.

Grain traits traced to 'dark matter' of rice genome

Domesticated rice has fatter seed grains with higher starch content than its wild rice relatives -- the result of many generations of preferential seed sorting and sowing. But even though rice was the first crop to be fully sequenced, scientists have only documented a few of the genetic changes that made rice into a staple food for more than half the world's population.

IAR will soon release Nigerian GMO maize

The preparation to mitigate shortage of maize supply in the country is under way as Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) will soon release a genetically modified maize variety that is fall army worm and stem borer  resistant, with high yield potential for commercialization.

5200-year-old grains in the eastern Altai Mountains redate trans-Eurasian crop exchange

Most people are familiar with the historical Silk Road, but fewer people realize that the exchange of items, ideas, technology, and human genes through the mountain valleys of Central Asia started almost three millennia before organized trade networks formed.

Large atmospheric waves in the jet stream present risk to global food production

In a new study published today in Nature Climate Change, scientists show how specific wave patterns in the jet stream strongly increase the chance of co-occurring heatwaves in major food producing regions of Northern America, Western Europe and Asia.

CAN repositioning top our priority says the new president

The Newly emerged President, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) Mr. M.O Abolarinwa has said that the Association would be repositioned to achieve economic competiveness and wealth creation for the stakeholders in the country. Mr. Bolarinwa made this promise during his acceptance speech on behalf of other executives, last week at Ilorin, Kwara State.

Oilpalm: states’ election slates for April says President

The new elected President, National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN Mr. Alphosus Inyang has said the election into the states’ chapter would be conducted between now and April, 2020 as town hall meetings would soon commence for more awareness creation.

Oldest reconstructed bacterial genomes link farming, herding with emergence of new disease

The Neolithic revolution, and the corresponding transition to agricultural and pastoralist lifestyles, represents one of the greatest cultural shifts in human history, and it has long been hypothesized that this might have also provided the opportunity for the emergence of human-adapted diseases.

New strategy to protect wine grapes from smoke-taint

It's a problem plaguing grape-growers worldwide -- in an ever-changing climate, how can they protect their crops from the undesirable effects of wildfire smoke exposure.