New sorghum varieties released in Nigeria with higher iron, yields and drought resilience

 ICRISAT

 

Nigeria (26 February 2016)— The release of two new nutritionally high sorghum varieties, one with three times higher iron content, will be a boost for farmers as well as the malnourished populations, especially children in Nigeria.Both varieties have yields that are double the local varieties are also short duration allowing farmers to adapt better to climate change.

IITA and NNPC/CNL JV Launch Youth Agricultural Program in Delta State

IITA

                                                                               

Chevron Nigeria Limited, (CNL), operator of the joint venture (JV) between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and  CNL (the “NNPC/CNL JV”), launched a youth-in-agriculture (agripreneur) program, aimed at providing training opportunities for young men and women to venture into agribusiness.

IAR cropping and REFILs Workshop starts 1st-4th march

Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru, Zaria

 

The year 2016 Cropping Scheme and North West Zonal Research Extension Farmer Inputs Linkage System (REFILs) meeting organized by the commences this week from March 1^st-4^th with the theme “ revamping agriculture for economic growth and sustainability”.

Cow's digestive system could revolutionise renewable energy

cow

A group of scientists are looking at the way relatively unknown fungi works inside the guts of herbivores, including elephants and cows, in the hope that it holds the key to revolutionising biomass technology.

Tokyo addresses food safety efforts for upcoming Games

food safety

TOKYO -- The organizer of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games plans to issue safety criteria by the end of this year regarding food served at the Olympic and media villages.

Namibia may soon take land by force - report

farmland

The Namibian government has announced that it is in talks with the attorney general over the introduction of harsh laws on the expropriation of land after the "willing buyer, willing seller" policy proved "ineffective".

CHOCOCALYPSE: Easter egg prices set to soar as cocoa demand booms

choc-apocalypse

Food security expert Professor Tim Benton claims we are heading towards a “choc-apocalypse” with poor production and panic helping to create a shortage.

Tanzania to pilot aflatoxin research

Tanzania is losing over USD 332 million annually from the negative impacts of aflatoxin, a deadly toxin affecting cereal crops like maize, sorghum, rice, wheat.

Tanzania is losing over 332 million U.S. dollars annually from the negative impacts of aflatoxin, a deadly toxin affecting cereal crops like maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, groundnuts and cassava according to researchers.

Cocoa futures 'heading back to $3,000 a tonne'

Cocoa futures

Cocoa futures are set to rally back past the $3,000-a-tonne level, broker VSA Capital said.

After rising through 2015, cocoa futures entered a sharp sell-off in 2016, with the front-month New York contract down more than 10% since the start of this year.

Bees Can Boost Food Security - UN

A new study suggest that poorly performing farms could significantly increase their crop yields by attracting more pollinators to their land.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today highlighted the publication of a new study that quantifies, for the first time, how much crop yields depend on the work of bees that unknowingly fertilize plants as they move from flower to flower.