Extinction: Ogun raises alarm on walnut, locust beans, 119 others

* FG promises prioritization

Government of Ogun state, through its Ministry of Agriculture, has identified One Hundred and Twenty One (121) African nutritious food crops including walnut, locust beans and African cherry that may likely go extinction if urgent action is not taken, just as the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) Dr. Ernest Umakhihe has promised support within the ambit of funds availability, and research provisions.

Seven of these crops had their origin from Nigeria as stated in the  memo presented by the Ogun state Government at the 45^th  National Council On Agriculture and Rural Development ( NCARD) meeting held recently in Jos, Plateau state.

The warning memo according to the PS, Ogun state Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Dotun Shoronke was meant to call the attention of the council members to the reality of crops that risk the probability of going extinction from our food memo, thereby calling for rescue mission so as to protect the economic potential the country may loss for not taking appropriate action.

Shoronke stated further that climate change negative impact is already taking tolls on our biodiversity and ecosystem as many crops many crops may go extinction if appropriate action is not taken, pointing that unrelenting effort must be scientifically channelled towards all these crops to save them from going into eradication.

''Crops like African cherry or Agbalumo, locust beans or Iru and walnut or  Asala with long gestation period should not be neglected to go into extinction based on their support for food security, and we need  concerted research effort  that will galvanise their development and growth along the value chains in order to promote their cultivations. There are about 121 of such crops that we have listed as being having tendencies to go into extinction; we just listed 10 here for consideration by the council.  You know the effect of climate change on the ecosystem, the agricultural space and the continuous biodiversity as we want the council members to have concerted efforts to see to the growth of these crops in our agriculture programme’’ said the Ogun PS.

The approved memo according to Dr. Ernest Umakhihe would be given attention based on principle of priority in view of limited fund availability with involvement of the research Institutes to ensure non extinction of these food crops, adding that the research institutes would be spoken to in this regards for action.

 Dr. Umakhihe said that not all the 121 crops would be immediately given attention, reason being shortage of fund, but promised that prioritization would be given to 7 of them, adding that African bush mango and six other will definitely be prioritized from going extinction based on their potentials of wealth and job creations with nutritional and health value to humanity.