AGRICULTURE

HERDSMEN, FARMERS SIGN PEACE ACCORD

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erdsmen and farmers in Gurusu community of Bosso Local Government Area of Niger state have signed an agreement to promote peaceful co-existence among them.

The meeting that produced the agreement was held at the Emir’s Palace in Bosso, with the herdsmen, farmers and other stakeholders within the council area in attendance.

The forum was aimed at reconciling the parties over a portion of land between one Malam Audu, a Gbagyi man and Malam Bello, a Fulani man, who had lived on the land belonging to Audu for 15 years in Gurusu village.

Malam Mu’azu Laka, District Head of the council area, commended the concerned parties for reporting the matter to the appropriate authority rather than taking the law into their hands.

Laka also lauded the parties’ agreement that led to the peaceful resolution of the matter, noting that the reconciliation had prevented the dispute from escalating.

He urged them to continue to embrace peace irrespective of their religious and ethnic affiliations.

Alhaji Abdullahi Babayo, Director-General of the State Nomadic Affairs Agency, called on the herdsmen and farmers to live with the fear of God and respect the cultures of one another.

Babayo warned them against engaging in communal clashes that could lead to the destruction of lives and property.

Alhaji Hakilu Kuta, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, urged both parties to always involve the appropriate authority in the investigation and settlement of disputes.

Kuta commended the involvement of the traditional rulers in the resolution of conflicts in their domain. 

GUARDIAN

YAM EXPORTATION POSSIBLE IN NIGERIA- NAQS BOSS

Following the recent move by the Federal Government to begin the exportation of yam by the end of this month, many questions have been raised on modalities for the export. In this interview, Dr Vincent Isegbe, the Coordinating Director, National Agriculture Quarantine Services (NAQS), spoke with newsmen on plans to make the export business a reality. 

WHAT ARE THE MANDATES OF NATIONAL AGRICULTURE QUARANTINE SERVICES?

The mandate of quarantine services are in two folds, one is to prevent the introduction, the spread and the establishment of any exotic disease or pests of animals, plants, aquatic resources or their products from coming in or going out of Nigeria.

The second mandate is to facilitate international trade, that is to say by the action of the first mandate to enable us facilitate international trade because at the end of the day whatever we are producing is of essence that we add value to it and export, we earn foreign exchange, we create job opportunities for the farmers and all the critical stakeholders on the value chain, we engage the youths in doing something for themselves.

WHAT IS THE QUARANTINE SERVICE DOING TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF REJECTION OF NIGERIA AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS IN THE EUROPEAN MARKET?

It is the duty of the quarantine by the international Plan Protection Convention, which Nigeria is a signatory to, to be the only agency of the government that will issue the phyto-sanitary certificate, no other organ or agency of government issues phyto-sanitary for the export or import of plants and plant products into the country, and it is not just Nigeria alone, every other quarantine service in those respective countries do the same thing.

It is our duty therefore to ensure that those exports or import of plants and plant products and inspected, certified by quarantine, then the relevant export and import permit issued as the case may be.

Now where you find out that the Nigerian quarantine service is not allowed or put in a position to exercise these mandate, you find infractions, in the sense that those imports and exports will go without quarantine inspection and certification, and if it does, at the other end,in the importing country, it will be impounded because it will not be allowed to enter those countries without those quarantine certification and the phyto-sanitary certification issued along these commodities, that is why it resulted in Nigeria being suspended in the first instance for one year for exporting brown beans to UK, and then after we were suspended further for three years under the same thing, it is as a result of the fact that the Nigerian Agriculture Quarantine Service did not inspect, certify issue phyto-Sanitary certification for those consignment of beans that entered the U.K.

It is rather unfortunate that at this period of Agriculture Production Policy, we are encouraging the export of agricultural produce and we are producing enough.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS BETWEEN NAQS AND THE NIGERIAN POLICE ON THE TRANSPORTATION OF FARM PRODUCE?

We are collaborating with the Nigerian Police Force to reduce extortion if not eliminate extortion on the high ways, we want to encourage those carrying agricultural produce to pass through our stations for inspection.

For example, when you load grains from Maiduguri, and they charge you at the loading point in Maiduguri, you pass through Bauchi, maybe the state government there collects some revenue , you pass through Plateau, the state government collects revenue, you enter Nasarawa, they collect, you enter Benue, they collect, thereafter, all these revenue they are collecting, the consumers will bear the cost of these charges, between Maiduguri and Lagos, they would have spent between N100,000 to N200,000, assuming it is perishable produce like tomato, due to the stop and pay movement, the tomato could spoil, the cost of those produce that spoilt and the cost of production will be added for the consumer to pay.

So the essence was to collaborate with the police so that at theses strategic check points, we ensure that no vehicle is stopped on the highway because the are carrying farm produce and there will not be extortion, that is our area of concentration, except at the quarantine post where you stop to check the health of the animals and for disease surveillance which is the normal duty of quarantine.

CURRENTLY THE GOVERNMENT SAID THEY WILL START EXPORTING YAM BY THE END OF THIS MONTH, WAS THE QUARANTINE SERVICE CARRIED ALONG?

The NAQS is playing a very strategic role in this intended yam export, we are the one to do the certification of the yam, once it is produced, we do the certification and we do what is called backward integration to let the farmers know that if your commodity is intended for export to a particular country, this is their requirements.

The yam should be of uniform size, it should not have a growth on the head, it will be cut and waxed with candle to prevent infection, the yam should not have any nematode infestation, the yam should be of uniform specie, put in the carton in a particular way, it should be properly labeled and weighed, and if it is going to a particular country, the import condition for that yam will be stated, if it is going to be fumigated, the chemical for fumigation will be stated, so we will comply with the request of the importing country to ensure that those things are put in place.

Yam that have fingers that are too long, too fat or that have rashes on the body, non of them will pass for export, and of course we painstakingly inspect each tuber of yam to ensure that they meet those requirements before we certify them and issue the photo-sanitary certification for the export.

We are already talking so that the exporters will do what they are supposed to do, so that they don’t bring the yam at the point of export and it will be rejected. We do jingles to tell farmers where our offices are for enquirers, we have 5 zonal offices, 56 stations and we are still expanding so that they can come and ask questions.

As the farmers are preparing their farms, we want to know where the farm is, we want to be able to trace each tuber to the farm, that is one of the conditions, we will able to trace that this tuber in a particular consignment came from a particular farm, if it has any issue in the importing country and they informed us, we will be able to trace the yam to the farmer and the farmer.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT NEED TO PUT IN PLACE TO ENHANCE YOUR CAPACITY?

Let me start by saying that the NAQS is an agency of government that Nigerians don’t understand what we do, they don’t appreciate the role quarantine is playing in enhancing and supporting the Nigerian agriculture economy, the Customs Service sees NAQS as an impediment to trade, and they are not true, rather, the Quarantine service ensure that any commodity leaving Nigeria complies with what Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures, which is an obligation Nigeria has to fulfill to be able to export.

In every developed or developing society, business should be played by the rules and that is why government the executive order which talks about transparency and ease of doing business let every player be transparent in their action so that business transactions will be eased.

The Custom Service should see the Quarantine Service as a partner because at the end of the day if those things are not certified and they collect their duty, that consignment will be returned.

To be able to do our job, we need encouragement from all the critical stakeholders, if they have issues with us, let them come out, recently I read that on the dailies that Quarantine Service now charge for wooden pellets, that is not true, we have always treated wooden pellet as commodity for export, if you have you wood pellet stamped and treated, you don’t have a course for us to treat them for the second time, but if they are not treated, the international community by International Standard on Phyto-Sanitary Measures, rule number 15 (ISPN 15), clearly indicated that any wooden pellet that is used in packaging any commodity for export must be treated and stamped in the country of origin.

We need improved funding because, crop pest survey, we do a lot of field works, we buy a lot of chemicals, we do elaborate analysis to support the work we do, we train our staff, some go overseas for specialist training, in few weeks ahead, four of our staff will be going to the U.K. for specialist training on the new equipment that we have brought in.

And for us to be on top of the situation to compete favorably with what the other developed nations do in their Quarantine Service, we need to be up and doing , for now we don’t have an office, we are in a rented place, it is not convenient for us.

We need operational vehicles because some of the areas we operate are difficult terrains, they are border stations, so they need a vehicle that can use in coming to the hinterland  and be able to patrol all those areas, the operational vehicle we have is less than 10, they are not enough.

We are complying with the Executive Order, but it is the implementation that is not being done right and that’s why we are drawing the attention of government to the proper implementation of the Executive Order. Where you said that Quarantine Service should not be at the frontline, who will inspect, already by the wrong implementation of the Executive Order, 17 bags of Kolanuts passed through the screening, it would have been exported if not that our staff saw it and intercepted it, and those 17 bags of Kolanuts were going to Saudi Arabia, and importation of kolanuts have been prohibited in Saudi Arabia and if eventually it has gone, it will be a bad name for Nigeria and the Quarantine Service.

So we have made a presentation to the Implementation Committee to look at the necessity to put Quarantine Service where we are supposed to be, not at the back side because there are grievous implications for doing that.

FG TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED IMPORTATION OF GARI FROM INDIA

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he Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development says it will liaise with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to investigate the alleged importation of garri from India.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who made this known on Wednesday in Abuja, said that it is ”strange and ridiculous” that garri would be imported when there is enough supply of cassava and garri in the country.

He said that the country produces more cassava that India, adding that Nigerians must change their attitude towards imported goods.

 
“Whoever buys that kind of garri should be blamed.

“I have heard of it. I will find out by tomorrow if NAFDAC indeed did certify any garri from India; unless it is some Indian companies packaging the garri here.

“Nigerians are too ready to buy anything imported. They will bring in apples and some of them have been preserved with ethanol which is not healthy for our consumption.

“Whoever is importing garri from India, something must be wrong with them. Why import garri when you do not know the conditions through which the garri was produced over there.

“ I have no powers to stop imports, but I can recommend to the Nigerian Customs that this is unreasonable. I produce and encourage Nigerians to eat what they produce because it is safer for them,’’ Ogbeh said.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that some sections of the media reported the existence of NAFDAC certified imported garri from India in some departmental stores and open markets across the country.

NAFDAC has however, denied the certification of such imported agricultural produce.

UNILORIN, ABUAD SCIENTISTS PARTNER TO DEVELOP MEDICINAL RICE

 

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cientists at the University of Ilorin and their counterparts at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), are finalising arrangements to develop an improved rice variety with medicinal potentials  against cancer.

A report in the  University of Ilorin stated that this was  the outcome of the collaboration  between the two institutions for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Feb. 2.

According to the report, the N50 million project would be carried out over a four-year period and expected to be funded from the National Research Fund of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TET-Fund).

It said  that the project was aimed at enhancing the well-being of rice farmers and improving the health conditions of consumers in the country.

“The main research collaborators include Prof. Samuel Onasanya,  Education Technology and Training Expert, University of Ilorin; Dr Michael Awolola,  Industrial Chemist, University of Ilorin  and Prof. Amos Onasanya, a Biochemist, Geneticist and Molecular Plant Pathologist.

“Others are ABUAD dons like Prof. Olarotimi Ojo, a Chemist, and Dr Phillip Okiki, an Animal Health Expert, among others,’’ it said.

The report quoted  the Vice-Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Prof. Michael Ajisafe, as saying that the MoU with University of Ilorin was the 13th the institution signed with other universities.

“We are happy to partner with Unilorin, which is the most peaceful university in the country and we are sure that based on its antecedents, the partnership will work,” he  said.

It also quoted the Deputy Vice-Chancellor,  Research, Technology and Innovations,  University of Ilorin, as saying  research collaboration was in pursuit of the university’s sustained bid for all-round development of the nation’s education system.

“The country stands to gain a lot from it,” he  said.

DANGOTE TOMATO FACTORY TO RESUME PRODUCTION FEBRUARY 

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he Dangote Tomato Processing Factory in Kano will resume production February next month.

The company, which began production in February 2016, had suspended operation due to lack of raw materials.

The Managing Director of the company, Abdulkadir Kaita, said in Kano that preparations for resumed production were at top levels. 

Kaita explained that the company had to suspend production when most of the tomato farms in five states were affected by pests which destroyed all the tomato species.