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Senator Theodore Orji, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, has highlighted ways through which the Nigerian economy can fulfill its enormous potential in the agriculture sector and provide quality food and employment to Nigerians as well as increase contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).   Senator Theodore Orji, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture source: independent.ng Senator Orji who was delivering his opening remarks as Chairman of the National Association of Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) Pan-African Conference/Award in Lagos recently said agriculture remains the major hope of the country to shore up its revenue which has nosedived in recent times due to deteriorating oil prices in the global market. According to him, if Nigeria is to reverse the trend on food imports running into billions of dollars, the government needs to ensure adequate security by tackling decisively the menace of Fulani herdsmen and terrorism while also giving ...

Nigeria is inching closer to achieving self-sufficiency in rice production as the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration targets seven million tonnes production of the commodity in 2018, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, has said.   Rice Mill Mohammed who disclosed this recently in Abuja, said rice demand in the country as at 2015 stood at 6.3 million tones, adding that imports dropped from 644,131 tonnes in 2015 to about 21,000 tonnes in 2017 as a result of the success recorded by the administration in local rice production. The minister said the interest being shown by some investors from Thailand in establishing rice milling plants in the country would not have been possible a few years ago when Nigeria was not considered a top rice producing country. The minister noted that the massive increase recorded in volume of rice produced across the country was largely due to a successful implementation of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme of the C...

Isinguzo Uzoma, popularly known as Uzo Ododo Oba of Wazobia FM, has announced that the maiden edition of Uzomatik Food and Drinks Fiesta (UFDF), a one-day exhibition of sales of online/offline foods and beverages, food technology/security, among others, will hold in Lagos at Ndubuisi Kanu Park, Mobolaji Johnson Avenue, Alausa Ikeja on Saturday 2nd, December, 2017, beginning from 10am.   Isinguzo Uzoma According to a statement by Uzoma, the Fiesta is designed to showcase the quality of Nigerian food varieties with opportunities in the local and international markets. The event is also designed to project the diverse angles of the food industry by connecting various businesses involved in the production and sales of food related items to a cosmopolitan audience of food enthusiasts. She explained that the event will not be all about food alone as there will be lots of music and comedy by the likes of African China, Jaywon, Lamboginny,  Dwana, Cornel and  Rat...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated a Cashew Processing factory, FoodPro Nigeria Limited, in Ilorin. Osinbajo who also inspected the factory after the inauguration expressed delight at what he saw on ground.   Vice President Yemi Osinbajo The Vice President who was conducted round the factory by Mr. Ayo Olajiga, Chief Executive Officer of FoodPro, restated the administration’s resolve to support the private sector with policies that would make business easier. Osinbajo was accompanied by Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Executive Director of Bank of Industry, Mr. Waheed Olagunju. Olajiga said the company had employed more than 400 staff with 90 per cent of them being women since it started operations a few years back. He said the factory was expanded to produce 5,000 tonnes of processed cashew nuts a year. Olajiga explained that most of the company’s output is exported to the United St...

You probably like your chickens as much as you dislike their mess. But what if you had a chicken run that literally ate the mess? Tradd Cotter, founder of a mushroom farm and research lab in South Carolina called Mushroom Mountain, did an experiment to accomplish just that, mixing the wood chips of his chicken run with mushroom spawn. While most chicken runs benefit from a little mulch, Cotter added to his a mushroom called King Stropharia or Wine Cap (Stropharia rugoso-annulata) that literally eats chicken manure, combating both harmful bacteria and odor. Added bonus: Wine Cap mushrooms make an edible secondary crop. He says the method is cheap and easy to replicate, even if you’re a fungi amateur. Mushrooms 101 To understand this coop-cleaning method, first let’s talk about mushrooms. Mushrooms are fungi. Though they seem to pop up overnight, they actually take days or even weeks to develop, and the process occurs mostly underground. Mushrooms ...

Dr. Yakubu Bununu, Coordinator, School of Post Graduate Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria has urged the Federal Government to prevail on herdsmen in the country to adopt the zero grazing model being practised in Kenya, saying pastoral nomadism is primitive and outdated.   Herdsmen in Nigeria Bununu who made the appeal while speaking at the end of this year’s African Land Policy Conference in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, said the Kenya model would lessen the clashes between herdsmen and farmers. He said adoption of the model would significantly modernise the cattle economy and prevent the attendant loss of human and cattle lives as well as destruction of farm infrastructure and produce. The university don, who also heads a team of researchers funded by the University of Groningen, Netherlands, said the anti-grazing law enacted by some states of the federation may end up creating more security challenges than intended. “On the other hand,...

Mr. Adewale Ajadi, Country Director, Synergos Development Innovations, has said yam exports to the United States (US) and Britain in June recorded 90 per cent and 50 per cent successes respectively. Synergos is a global non-profit organisation providing cooling and conditioning facilities for export commodities to ensure that they meet international market requirements. Ajadi who said this in an interview at the weekend in Lagos, disclosed that the rate of success of the yam exports was commendable, taking into consideration that Nigeria had never ventured into yam exportation, prior to this time. “At least 80 per cent to 90 per cent success was recorded for the yam consignment that got to the US, while it was 50 per cent for the yam consignment that got to Britain. “Yes, the 50 per-cent success rate showed there were some problems with the yam consignment to Britain, and the spoilt yam tubers were separated from the good ones. “That, however, does not mean that...