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It is no longer news that Benue State is reputed to produce over 120 agricultural products and as such the state prides itself as the “food basket of the nation” with some of the crops grown to include yam, cassava, soya bean, maize, cow pea, potatoes and citrus, potentials still largely untapped. Daily Trust reports […]
I visited Katsina over the holidays and took the opportunity to attend the launching of the Rice Anchor Borrowers Programme in Jibia sponsored by the Central Bank and the Bank of Agriculture. The project is aimed at developing the rice value chain by supplying credit for improved seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. The State Government […]
How To Increase Your Farm Profit In 2017?, The major concern of every farmer who sees farming as a business is how to increase the revenue or turnover of his/ her farm. However, the practice with many farmers is to sink money into farming without developing good farm accounting procedures and processes, which are very […]
Cotton farming in Nigeria has received very little attention from various governments over the past two decades. This has however made the commodity to witness continuous decline in production. With its contribution to GDP dropping from 25 per cent to 4 per cent. Lack of improved seeds, access to extension services and low prices of […]
Faced with dwindling oil revenue, the nation is gradually returning to agriculture. In the outgoing year, many states collaborated in agricultural ventures, which are now yielding dividends. DANIEL ESSIET writes. It was another tough year for the economy. Economic growth was slower. The main reasons for the relative slow down are not unique to Nigeria.The […]
Cotton, one of the nation’s most valuable export tree crops before the oil boom of the 70s, is gradually becoming history in Nigeria despite the potential to have a share in the estimated $3 trillion global textile industry. From the 1960s to late 1980s, about 176 textile companies were active in Nigeria when Kaduna, Kano […]
Agric production, Regardless of the approach or transformative pathway chosen to change food systems and trade regimes, African countries need to undertake radical change in agricultural production systems, adopt agribusiness and promote regional agricultural value chains as a vein for regional integration. This was the view of the Director of the United Nations Economic Commission […]
Over the years, the Nigerian government has not given the livestock sector appropriate official recognition and support despite contributing 6-8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 20-25 per cent of the agricultural GDP. Trade in livestock and allied products runs into billions of naira yearly, with millions of people ranging from transporters, […]
The tomato industry, like many others in Nigeria, faces a lot of challenges that threaten the viability and sustainability of various businesses and entrepreneurships in the value chain. Reports have it that tomato farms have been ravaged by diseases across the tomato producing states – majorly Kaduna, Kano and Katsina -in the North while tomato […]
Integrated systems research approach in agriculture is key to sustainable transformation in Africa with benefits including increase in yields and livelihoods improvement of resource-poor farmers, according to the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga. The systems approach places the farmer at the center and develops an understanding of the […]
The need for Nigeria to diversify its economy cannot be over-emphasized. Confronted with a bleak economic outlook occasioned by recession, the Federal Government and governments at all other levels, are at present seeking alternative and additional means of revenue generation. The shortfall in international oil prices coupled with instability in the Niger Delta region has […]
Cash crops have been creating millionaires, jobs and sustaining the economy of many nation around the world, just as coconut represents golden chance for Nigeria to rake in over $2.5billion annually. However, some cash crops in the country like cocoa, cashew, soybeans and others have also penetrated international markets, where the demand for these crops […]
With hundreds of debates going on about GMO foods and oppositions from Anti-GMO advocacy groups getting tougher by the day, I have always been inquisitive about this topic and concerned with the continuous intensity of the ongoing conflict. It’s not a coincidence my first article as a contributor is about GMO and I predict there […]
East Africa faces a growing deficit of animal feed owing to increased production of livestock products and urbanisation Growing populations and incomes continue to drive livestock demand, which could grow as high as 50 percent in certain cities, particularly in Tanzania’s capital Dar es Salaam and Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa. However, this has led to a […]
Analyst: Cattle Producers Should Stay On Alert A recent recovery in cattle prices (as of this writing, a rally close to $10.00 above recent lows) has many in the cattle industry breathing a sigh of relief. Yet, one has to acknowledge that the supply of cattle continues to remain large. In spite of good export […]