Agric & Biotech

Agriculture economists have expressed concern about how agricultural activities in the country have taken the back stage since the discovery of oil. They note that agriculture sector, comprising the cultivation of and keeping poultry and livestock, among others, has played a dominant role in the country’s economy in the past. They observe further that as the major hub of the ...

A cross section of line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in collaboration with the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) have reviewed and validated a National Biosafety Mainstreaming Strategy that will further strengthen the biosafety regulatory regime and its inclusion in various sectors of the economy. The National Biosafety Mainstreaming Strategy document developed by the NBMA was presented, reviewed and validated ...

An international organisation, Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB), has advised Nigerian farmers to take advantage of the newly approved Genetically Modified (GM) cotton varieties to boost cotton production. Country Coordinator of OFAB, Dr Rose Gidado, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday, October 12, 2018. She said that ...

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector of the economy have called for total transformation of the nation’s food systems to prevent hunger and arrest incidence of poverty. They made the call recently during the 2nd International Conference hosted by the Faculty of Agriculture, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike, Ebonyi State, with the theme, “Transforming National Food Systems to Prevent Hunger” as ...

Chemicals are important determinants for sustainable development, sound environmental health and quality of life. But while the use of chemicals in all our human activities including agriculture, health, manufacture contributes to improving the quality of life, it also levied its harmful effects through exposure on workers, consumers, the environment and society at large. Omar Bah, Registrar of Pesticides and Hazardous ...

The President, Nigerian Meteorological Society (NMetS), Prof. Clement Akoshile, on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 urged farmers to desist from planting close to water courses. Akoshile gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. According to him, farms that produce crops such as rice and millet among others need a lot of water. “Such ...

The Africa Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is convening a high-level partnership meeting to develop an action plan to deploy proven technologies against the highly destructive Fall Armyworm (FAW) in East Africa. Ultimately, an appreciable management of FAW in East Africa will significantly reduce adult populations which subsequently migrate to initiate attacks in other regions. ...

As the world grapples with how best to address climate change impacts including global warming, some scientists are of the view that the tools of biotechnology have a lot to offer in that regard. “Biotechnology can contribute to mitigating climate change in two ways…” says, Dr. George Essegbey, a Chief Research Scientist with the Science Technology Policy Research Institute of ...

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called on the Federal Government to ensure value addition to Nigeria’s agricultural produce to achieve zero hunger by 2030. Mr Suffyan Koroma, the Country Representative of FAO, made the call in Abuja on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 at a walk organised to commemorate the 2018 World Food Day. Koroma, who stressed that ...

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, says if appropriate measures are not taken to replant after the recent flood, the country may be in serious trouble with rice production. Ogbeh disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday, October 4, 2018 at the inauguration of National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) Molecular Facility and the 2018 seed fair and ...