Agric & Biotech

Increasing soil acidity is complicating Kenya’s goal of achieving food security by lowering farmer’s yields, a government official on Friday, April 12, 2019 said. Hamadi Boga Hamadi Boga, Principal Secretary of the State Department of Agricultural Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, said this in Nairobi, the nation’s capital. Boga said that most of the agricultural land especially in the ...

The Federal Government has been urged not to sign the Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV 1991) but instead should design its own plant variety protection laws that are suitable to the Nigerian environment. A panel discussion session during the conference The call was made by some 100 delegates made up of consumers, farmers, academics, researchers, government ...

With more than 3.4 million hectares of land available, the Togolese government is worried that only 45% is being used presently. Togolese Agric Minister, Noël Koutéra Bataka, with Dr Mpoko Bokanga, Head TAAT Clearinghouse, at the forum The government is equally concerned that despite Togo’s natural comparative advantage in agriculture when compared to other countries, its inability to maximise technologies ...

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Jigawa on Tuesday, April 9, 2019 said typha grass had invaded over 1,000 hectares of farmland in Guri Local Government Area of the state. Typha grass Chairman of the association in the area, Alhaji Yakubu Dole-Zugo, made the disclosure in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Guri. He said ...

Malawi’s maize output increased by just over 24 per cent in the 2018/19 farming year so far, boosted by favourable weather conditions and government subsidies, the agriculture minister said on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. Cyclone Idai lays waste to parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi Joseph Mwanamvekha said production rose to 3.355 million metric tonnes from 2.697 million metric tonnes in ...

The GeoFarmer app allows community workers and smallholders to easily collect and share information on climate-related agricultural interventions. Development agencies can use the tool to gather effective feedback and to respond to emergent climate needs The GeoFarmer app allows community workers and smallholders to easily collect and share information on climate-related agricultural interventions When a drought-bringing El Niño hits, farmers are the ...

The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Abuja Council has said it is ready and willing to partner with the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to create awareness and educate the general public on its mandate which is ensuring the safety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Director General/CEO, NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba along with his staff, with the Abuja NUJ delegation ...

The National President, Soil Science Society of Nigeria, Prof. Victor Chude, has said that any country that failed to adequately care for its soil, risks hunger and diseases. Quality of soils plays a critical role in food production and security. Photo credit: smeonline.biz Chude said in an interview in Abuja that the quality of soils plays critical roles in food ...

A court on Thursday, March 28, 2019 ordered Monsanto to pay a U.S. man $80.3 million in damages after a jury determined that the agro-chemical company’s weed killer product “Roundup” contributed to his cancer. A farm is treated with a weed-killer The Federal Jury in San Francisco ruled that Monsanto, a unit of German agriculture and pharmaceuticals company Bayer, was ...

Irrigation specialists from across Africa on Thursday, March 28, 2019 converged on the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Oyo State, to discuss irrigation management issues and ways to improve its practices in Africa. Irrigation in Eritrea. Photo credit: www.treehugger.com The symposium, titled: “Irrigation and Water Resources Management (IWRM), for agriculture: achieving impact for Africa”, was organised by ...